Order to reveal Iraq Cabinet papers
Last Updated: Tuesday, 27 January 2009, 22:00 GMT
Order to reveal Iraq Cabinet papers
The Government has been ordered to release the minutes of crucial 2003
Cabinet meetings where the invasion of Iraq was discussed.
The Information Tribunal upheld a decision by the Information
Commissioner that details of the sessions on March 13 and 17 should be
disclosed.
The ruling opens up the prospect of one of the most controversial
Government decisions of recent years being laid bare - although the
Tribunal stressed that disclosure would not necessarily set a precedent.
The meetings considered the highly controversial issue of whether the
invasion was allowed under international law. The arguments in favour of
keeping the formulation of Government policy secret and preserving the
principle of collective responsibility were defeated in this "exceptional
case", the ruling said.
The Tribunal said: "The decision to commit the nation's armed forces to the
invasion of another country is momentous in its own right, and ... its
seriousness is increased by the criticisms that have been made (particularly
in the Butler Report) of the general decision-making processes in the
Cabinet at the time.
"There has also been criticism of the Attorney General's legal advice and of
the particular way in which the March 17 opinion was made available to the
Cabinet only at the last moment and the March 7 opinion was not disclosed
to it at all."
Information Commissioner Richard Thomas said: "I am pleased that the
Tribunal has upheld my decision that the public interest in disclosing the
official Cabinet minutes in this particular case outweighs the public interest
in withholding the information.
"Disclosing the minutes will allow the public to more fully understand this
particular decision."
The Cabinet Office now has 28 days to decide whether to appeal to the High
Court against the ruling.
Downing Street said: "The Information Commissioner has just made an
announcement on this and we are considering our response."
Last Updated: Wednesday, 28 January 2009, 02:00 GMT
