SIC confirms ScotGov has ZERO evidence of obligation
Does there exist a lawfully established, legitimate obligation to obey government legislation? Or is it simply ‘Comply. Or we’ll do stuff.’?
Such an obligation surely cannot be based on ‘Comply. Or we’ll do stuff.’ – like any mafia, criminal cartel, or a mugger with a knife at your throat… can it?
Astonishingly, it would seem that this is indeed the situation we find ourselves in.
As our readers will be aware, for some time now Declaration of Dumfries and its various allies have been seeking official, documented evidence of the obligation to obey government legislation – Acts, Statutes, etc – from many government entities, most notably the Ministry of Justice, who failed despite multiple attempts as we’ve reported on previously. During this quest there’s been a number of bizarre logical fallacies thrown at us, including:
‘Of course there is!’ – NOT evidence.
‘It’s preposterous to think otherwise!’ – NOT evidence.
‘That question is vexatious!’ – NOT evidence.
‘It is a matter of public knowledge!’ – NOT evidence.
Today we received Decision Notice 266/2024 from the Scottish Information Commissioner regarding the same question of obligation, this time asked in connection with the Scottish Kept Bird Register, which alleges an obligation for all poultry owners to register flocks with the Scottish Government. The author of this FOISA 2002 request wishes to remain anonymous.
The SIC determined that ScotGov was indeed correct to state that no such records were held – cementing the position of all previous government departments’ responses on this issue. The Decision Notice can be read in full when it is uploaded to the SIC website in a week or so, but in the meantime here are some interesting excerpts (EMPHASES by DoD):
‘In its submissions to the Commissioner, the Authority confirmed that it DID NOT HOLD INFORMATION falling within scope of the Applicant’s request and it maintained its reliance on regulation 10(4)(a)’
‘The Authority explained that it had carried out two global searches of its corporate records management system (eRDM) using the search terms ‘right to make law’ OR ‘right to make legislation’; and ‘lawful creation’ OR ‘obligation to obey government legislation’. Given the terms of the request, the Authority argued that these were the appropriate keywords and phrases to search for any relevant information held.’
‘The Authority submitted that these searches generated a total of 44 results, and that each result was individually reviewed. The Authority submitted that NOTHING OF RELEVANCE WAS RETURNED by the searches other than correspondence generated by the request, and that NONE OF THE RESULTS WERE IN SCOPE of the Applicant’s information request.’
‘Given the terms of the request, the Commissioner is satisfied that the searches carried out by the Authority were appropriate and, on balance, SHOULD HAVE BEEN ABLE TO IDENTIFY INFORMATION within scope of the request IF IT EXISTED, and was held.’
‘In all the circumstance of the case, the Commissioner is satisfied that the Authority DOES NOT HOLD RECORDED INFORMATION which would fulfil the Applicant’s request.
So there we have it: ZERO evidence of lawful obligation, which leaves only one option…
Comply. Or we’ll do stuff.
Right of Reply: Contact DoD@DeclarationofDumfries.co.uk with additional or alternative information. Anonymity guaranteed.