(a) Requirements for making an appeal. A requester may appeal any adverse determinations to OIP. The contact information for OIP is contained in the FOIA Reference Guide, which is available at http://www.justice.gov/oip/04_3.html. Appeals can be submitted through the web portal accessible on OIP's Web site. Examples of adverse determinations are provided in § 16.6(d). The requester must make the appeal in writing and to be considered timely it must be postmarked, or in the case of electronic submissions, transmitted, within 90 calendar days after the date of the response. The appeal should clearly identify the component's determination that is being appealed and the assigned request number. To facilitate handling, the requester should mark both the appeal letter and envelope, or subject line of the electronic transmission, “Freedom of Information Act Appeal.”
(b) Adjudication of appeals. (1) The Director of OIP or designee will act on behalf of the Attorney General on all appeals under this section.
(2) An appeal ordinarily will not be adjudicated if the request becomes a matter of FOIA litigation.
(3) On receipt of any appeal involving classified information, OIP shall take appropriate action to ensure compliance with part 17 of this title.
(c) Decisions on appeals. A decision on an appeal must be made in writing. A decision that upholds a component's determination will contain a statement that identifies the reasons for the affirmance, including any FOIA exemptions applied. The decision will provide the requester with notification of the statutory right to file a lawsuit and will inform the requester of the mediation services offered by the Office of Government Information Services of the National Archives and Records Administration as a non-exclusive alternative to litigation. If a component's decision is remanded or modified on appeal, the requester will be notified of that determination in writing. The component will thereafter further process the request in accordance with that appeal determination and respond directly to the requester.
(d) Engaging in dispute resolution services provided by OGIS. Mediation is a voluntary process. If a component agrees to participate in the mediation services provided by the Office of Government Information Services, it will actively engage as a partner to the process in an attempt to resolve the dispute.
(e) When appeal is required. Before seeking review by a court of a component's adverse determination, a requester generally must first submit a timely administrative appeal.
[AG Order No. 3517-2015, 80 FR 18106, Apr. 3, 2015, as amended by AG Order 3803-2016, 82 FR 728, Jan. 4, 2017]
Notes of Decisions
Tokar v. U.S. Dep't of Just., 304 F. Supp. 3d 81 (D.C. Cir. 2018).
· cites it 4× “Tokar that, pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 16.8 (f), DOJ would need to send notifications to the fifteen corporations identified in his FOIA request in order to give them an opportunity to object to DOJ's proposed disclosures.”
Edward Spannaus v. U.S. Dep't of Just., 824 F.2d 52 (D.C. Cir. 1987).
· cites it 2× “In no case could such period exceed the 30-day period during which a requester may file an administrative appeal to the OPIA, 28 C.F.R. § 16.8 (a) (1986), plus the 20-working-day period allotted for OPIA processing of the appeal.”
Carl Oglesby v. The United States Dep't of the Army, 920 F.2d 57 (D.C. Cir. 1990).
“The agencies included in this case have adopted the ffollowing time limits: The FBI requires an appeal to the head of the agency within thirty days of receipt of the agency’s response, 28 C.F.R. § 16.8 (a) (1986); the CIA requires an appeal within 30 days, but an additional 30…”
Royce Corley v. DOJ, 998 F.3d 981 (D.C. Cir. 2021).
“162; see also 28 C.F.R. § 16.8 (a) (“A requester may appeal any adverse determinations to [the Office of Information Policy].”
Greenberg v. United States Dep't of Treasury, 10 F. Supp. 2d 3 (D.D.C. 1998).
“In 1985, when Albright made his FOIA request, the FBI’s time limit for appealing the denial of a FOIA request was within thirty days of receipt of the agency’s response, 28 C.F.R. § 16.8 (a) (1985). Accordingly Albright must administratively appeal, the FBI’s treatment of his…”
Landmark Legal Found. v. U.S. Dep't of Just., 211 F. Supp. 3d 311 (D.D.C. 2016).
“Civil Rights, having responded in a timely fashion, met its obligations, and Plaintiff was therefore required to administratively appeal, in con *322 formity with DOJ’s regulations, in order to seek relief in this court.”
Conley v. Fed. Bureau of Investigation, 714 F. App'x 191 (3rd Cir. 2017).
“” 28 C.F.R. § 16.8 (a) (2016). 4 . Exemption (b)(7)(E) applies to “records or information compiled' for law enforcement purposes" that “would disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement…”
Knight v. Food & Drug Admin., 938 F. Supp. 710 (D. Kan. 1996).
“By letter dated April 11, 1995, Knight appealed his request, pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 16.8 , to the Office of Information and Privacy within the United States Department of Justice.”
Tokar v. U.S. Dep't of Just. (D.D.C. 2018).
· cites it 4× “Tokar that, pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 16.8 (f), DOJ would need to send notifications to the fifteen corporations identified in his FOIA request in order to give them an opportunity to object to DOJ’s proposed disclosures.”
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