Freedom Law Chambers has launched legal action against the Attorney General and state enterprise Paria Fuel Trading Company Ltd for their refusal to provide information requested under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on legal fees.

In two separate FOIA requests — one from social activist Ravi Balgobin Maharaj to the Attorney General’s Office, and another from former Petrotrin employee Anthony Dopson to Paria Fuel — sought information on legal fees paid to attorneys retained by the respective entities.

Both requests were met with refusals citing concerns over crime and attorney safety.

Maharaj’s FOIA request, dated November 4, sought the names of attorneys paid legal fees by the Attorney General’s Office in fiscal 2024, the amounts paid, and copies of the invoices. The response, received on January 14, 2025, declined to share the full details, citing concerns about extortion and personal safety.

“Given the prevailing crime situation where extortion has been increasing and lawyers have become more frequent targets for criminals, it is unreasonable to disclose the public fees earned by lawyers in these circumstances,” the Office of the Attorney General stated, adding that attorneys had objected to disclosure on the grounds of safety and security.

The letter, signed by the permanent secretary, further suggested that disclosing this information could expose attorneys to “defamatory, uninformed, and degrading statements” and that such fees had historically been treated as private and confidential.

Instead, the AG’s office provided redacted invoices, omitting names, addresses, and contact details, claiming the information constituted “personal information” under the FOIA.

Similarly, Dopson’s January 8, request to Paria Fuel for details of legal fees paid to attorneys representing the company during the commission of enquiry (CoE) into the Paria diving tragedy was denied.

On February 6, Paria’s response said that while there was public interest in disclosing the sums paid, it “does not trump the personal safety of the individual attorneys-at-law.” Paria contended that making the payment details public could place the lawyers at risk, given the country’s crime climate.

The company noted that while such information might not fall squarely within exempt documents under the FOIA, section 30 (1) allowed withholding information if its disclosure would involve the “unreasonable disclosure of personal information.”

Paria suggested it might reconsider its position if Dopson provided an undertaking not to publicise the information.

However, in response, Freedom Law Chambers, led by former attorney general Anand Ramlogan, SC, challenged both decisions.

In a pre-action protocol letter on February 7, attorney Aasha Ramlal dismissed Paria’s reasons as “untenable, arbitrary and irrational.” She argued that payments made by a public authority for legal representation could never be considered “personal information.”

“This is not the ‘personal information’ of the lawyer who has been paid. It is the busines