How to Challenge a Refusal

Where the organisation refuses a request in whole or in part, the response tells the person they can seek a remedy from the Information Commissioner's Office or a court.

Criterion: H2
Level: Level 1
Domain: Redaction and Exemptions
Reflects: Article 12(4)

Intent

A person told no is at the point of needing to know they can take it further. Left unsaid, the refusal reads as final.

How to test it

An assessor scores the criterion against a single response:

Score 2: The response tells the person they can seek a remedy from the Information Commissioner's Office or a court.
Score 1: The response names either the Information Commissioner's Office or a court, but not both.
Score 0: The response refuses the request without saying the person can seek a remedy.
Not applicable: The organisation did not refuse the request in whole or in part.

The law it reflects

This criterion reflects Article 12(4) of the UK GDPR. That mapping is a guide, not a legal test: conformance is judged against the criterion, not the article.

See H2 in context in the full standard.