James Kelsall v The Information Commissioner

Facts

The applicant, James Kelsall, a litigant in person, had complained to the Information Commissioner about the handling of his personal data by Greater Manchester Police. He then applied to the First-tier Tribunal under section 166(2) of the Data Protection Act 2018 for an order requiring the Commissioner to take appropriate steps to respond to that complaint. The Commissioner resisted the application, contending that the complaint was manifestly unfounded or excessive within Article 57(4) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation, so that his obligations under section 165 of the Data Protection Act 2018 were suspended and the application had no reasonable prospect of success. The Commissioner's evidence was that between September 2024 and May 2025 the applicant had made 22 data protection complaints and five complaints under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, generating ten manager reviews, seven service reviews and one assurance review, and that after a warning letter of 14 October 2024 he sent a further 315 emails, some containing abusive content and allegations of criminality against named staff. By a letter of 3 June 2025 the Commissioner imposed contact restrictions. The Commissioner applied on 14 April 2026 to strike the application out under rule 8(3)(c) of the Tribunal Procedure (First-tier Tribunal) (General Regulatory Chamber) Rules 2009. Despite repeated extensions of time, the applicant filed no substantive response.