FOI Illegal Abortions (0342-2022/23)

Request

Q1 I am looking for information from each police force on occasions between 2012 and 2022 (or when data is most recently available) where an individual or a number of individuals have been prosecuted in relation to an abortion or miscarriage (including third parties, such as men who have caused a woman to miscarry).

Q2 I am looking for instances where the crime was reported but not taken forward, as well as instances where a police investigation took forward and a suspect was arrested and charged.

For each case, can you please include the following:

List the specific legislation that was used to bring forward a prosecution, such as:

• Sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act
• The Infant Life Preservation Act 1929
• Any other legislation used
• Anonymised details of the report.

Response

Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information

To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. 

I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police. 

Decision

Q1) I am looking for information from each police force on occasions between 2012 and 2022 (or when data is most recently available) where an individual or a number of individuals have been prosecuted in relation to an abortion or miscarriage (including third parties, such as men who have caused a woman to miscarry).

I am looking for instances where the crime was reported but not taken forward, as well as instances where a police investigation took forward and a suspect was arrested and charged.

Crime Data and outcome relevant to the offence in question is published on-line and freely available to the public by using the below link.

Police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk

I am therefore exempting providing any further response to this part of your request citing S21 – Information Reasonably Accessible to the Applicant by Other Means. Please see the detailed exemptions explanation below. Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a partial refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to this part of your request.

Q2) Q2 I am looking for instances where the crime was reported but not taken forward, as well as instances where a police investigation took forward and a suspect was arrested and charged.

I can advise that there is 1 offence recorded by North Yorkshire Police for the specified period that resulted in a Police Charge. Context that has been previously disclosed in relation to the single crime is that the suspect in this instance was a third party (male) performing an act against a pregnant woman.

I am unfortunately unable to offer any further detail on this particular question pursuant to section 40(2) – Personal Data. Please see the detailed exemption explanation below. Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a partial refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to Q1) of your request.

Exemption Explanations

Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies. Please see the relevant exemption headers below for further information.

Section 21 – Information Reasonably Accessible to the Applicant by Other Means

This exemption applies as the requested information has been deemed already reasonably accessible by other means. Please refer to the following for relevant information;

Section 21(1) is an absolute class-based exemption. This means that if the requested information is held by the public authority, and it is reasonably accessible to the applicant by other means, it is not subject to the public interest test.

Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a Refusal Notice in response to your request.

Section 40 – Personal Information

Section 40(2) is an absolute class-based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair.

(DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1))

This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.

Due to the significantly low number of relevant crimes, disclosure of any further information would enable the inadvertent identification of those involved in the matter.

In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure.  In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned. 

Releasing information that could identify persons involved in crime, would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights, but it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data.  It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.