A court will today (12.03.14) decide whether Britain’s Prince Charles’ letters to government ministers should have been made public.
The Court of Appeal in London will rule today (12.03.14) on whether the Attorney General, Dominic Grieve, acted unlawfully when he vetoed a tribunal which had ruled in favour of allowing the public to see letters the Prince of Wales had written to members of the government.
Newspaper journalist Ron Evans has accused Grieve – who is the government’s principal legal adviser – of failing to show "reasonable grounds" for blocking the release of the communications between the Prince and various government ministers between September 2004 and April 2005.
In September 2012 The Upper Tribunal – which was headed by a High Court judge – declared that Mr Evans and the public had the right to see the letters under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and although the government departments concerned did not appeal, a month later the Attorney General imposed a veto by issuing a certificate under section 53 of the FOIA.
Mr Grieve said at the time that he felt the departments were legally entitled to refuse disclosure because it could damage the principle of their heir to the throne being politically neutral and could undermine his ability to fulfil duties if and when he becomes king.
Mr Evans – who works for The Guardian newspaper – says he wants to investigate "the way the heir to the throne seeks to influence Government ministers even though he holds no elected position".
Prince of Wales’ letters to be made public?
