Editors‘ Note:
This article was compiled and written by OpenAI’s ChatGPT Plus, Anthropic’s Claude AI and reviewed by the human editors of Eat News.
The London School of Economics (LSE) has come under scrutiny following an array of requests related to the thesis of Tsai Ing-wen, who has been the president of the Republic of China on Taiwan since 2016. Within a two-week period in August 2020, LSE received 39 requests and 747 emails concerning the subject, and the handling of these inquiries has raised some questions.
A breakdown of the responses reveals the following:
- Successful: 3 requests (5%)
- Refused: 30 requests (47%)
- Long overdue: 17 requests (27%)
- Awaiting internal review: 8 requests (13%)
- Information not held: 3 requests (5%)
- Partially successful: 1 request (2%)
- Waiting clarification: 1 request (2%)
LSE claimed, the inquiries were deemed vexatious under Section 14(1) of the Freedom of Information Act, which allows institutions to ignore requests considered abusive of the right to access information. However, the refusal and delays in response to these inquiries have led to further questions.
The refusal of almost half the inquiries and the prolonged delay in response to over a quarter of them are notable, especially as LSE failed to respond to some within the legally required 20-day time frame. Detailed information regarding the specifics of requests fully answered and processed is not available.
Additionally, LSE stated that there might be delays in response due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has put additional strains on the school in terms of costs and staff time, forcing them to prioritize their finite resources.
The case took a legal turn when an FOI request by Professor Hwan Lin was struck down by the First-tier Tribunal (FTT), leading to a legal appeal. The UK Upper Tribunal recently overturned the decision, remitting the case to the FTT for reconsideration. Although the original grounds for appeal were considered to lack clarity, the Upper Tribunal Judge found that there was an error of law in the original ruling, necessitating a full hearing.
The decision has further highlighted the controversy surrounding the inquiries related to Tsai Ing-wen’s thesis at LSE. The complex saga continues to evolve, and the school’s handling of these requests may have broader implications for institutional integrity and public trust, particularly given the legal challenges now involved.
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