The Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) creates a general right of access to information held by public authorities.  It gives people the right to ask for any information (in recorded form) held by CMA and other public bodies.  The intention is that public bodies should be transparent and accountable for their decisions and policy making.  A request must be in writing with an address to which a response can be sent. Requests made under FoIA may engage specified information whose disclosure is barred in these circumstances there is an exemption under the FoIA for having to supply such information. However, Section 44(1)(a) of the FoIA provides that information is exempt from disclosure where its disclosure is prohibited by another statutory provision. This exemption would therefore cover the prohibition set out in s237(2) of EA02. Information is 'specified' if it has come to the CMA in connection with the exercise of its functions under the EA 2002 or functions conferred by other legislation as set out in section 238(1). In cases where the CMA is bringing a criminal prosecution against individuals for cartel activity, there is a statutory obligation to disclose certain information to individual defendants to ensure a defendant's right to a fair trial. In this situation, the CMA must comply with national disclosure requirements under the Criminal Procedure and Investigations Act 1996 (as amended) and the associated Code of Practice, which also applies to other prosecuting authorities. Access to leniency material is available in principle, but subject to the ability for the CMA to withhold on confidentiality or public interest grounds where the material is not relied on in support of the CMA’s case and disclosure is not necessary for rights of defence. In practice, the CMA will not ordinarily grant access to leniency statements to other parties, given the public interest considerations of protecting the leniency regime. UK civil courts also have wide powers to order disclosure of documents that are relevant to proceedings before the court