Anyone anywhere in the world can submit a Freedom of Information request to PRONI - you do not have to be a UK citizen or resident.

To make a Freedom of Information or search service request, you must contact PRONI in writing via post, e-mail, or complete a PRONI enquiry form (which gives details on the minimum information required to conduct a search) online.

Freedom of Information enquiries must be responded to within 30 working days - requests are answered strictly in date order.  In practice, however, you may find that our response is quicker than these timescales.

Information already open to the public - many public records held by PRONI are already open to the public. This means that you can visit PRONI and do your own research free of charge or hire an independent commercial researcher to do this for you. We will also provide advice and guidance about accessing records held by PRONI (both on-site or in response to telephone or written enquiries) free of charge.
Under FOI, PRONI provides a search service, whereby we can look for specific information in records which are open to the public for a set fee.

Information in closed public records - Some records in PRONI may be closed to the public for a number of reasons. You can make an FOI request to access the information in any closed public records. We will not charge you for  deciding if you can access information in a closed record and we will not charge for searches in closed records. Information we find which is not subject to any FOI exemptions will be made available free of charge.

The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 give rights of access to environmental information under terms similar to Freedom of Information. EIR requests can be made in writing or over the telephone – you can contact us by telephone, letter, email or complete a PRONI enquiry form online.

PRONI has an Information Sharing Agreement in place with the ICRIR. This means that you do not need to request information from PRONI ahead of providing the Commission with information. The ICRIR will request all relevant records from PRONI on your behalf and will gain access to these much faster than through a regular request made to PRONI for closed records.

PRONI has an Information Sharing Agreement in place with the Victims’ Payment Board. This means that you do not need to request information from PRONI ahead of completing your application. The VPB will request all relevant records from PRONI on your behalf and will gain access to these much faster than through a regular request made to PRONI for closed records.

Similarly, if you require records for an appeal to the Victims’ Payment Board, the VPB will request all relevant information from PRONI directly. If you are aware of PRONI references that may be useful to your appeal, please contact vpb@communities-ni.gov.uk who will advise the VPB that these records will potentially be of use and can be requested from PRONI on your behalf.

Please see the Victims' Payments Board's Guidance to Applicants for further details.

PRONI staff are happy to advise on the identification and availability of particular sources, but we cannot undertake any form of academic research.