(1)

(a) Subject to paragraph (b), where -

(i) a Minister of the Government or the head of an FOI body (other than a Department of State) in relation to which functions stand conferred on that Minister of the Government -

(I) pursuant to section 13, refuses to grant an FOI request to him or her, or

(II) pursuant to section 21, upholds a decision, or decides, to refuse to grant an FOI request,

because he or she is satisfied that, by virtue of section 32 or 33, the record concerned is an exempt record, and

(ii) the Minister of the Government is satisfied, that the record is of sufficient sensitivity or seriousness to justify his or her doing so,

the Minister of the Government may declare, in a certificate issued by him or her ("certificate"), that the record is, by virtue of section 32 or 33, an exempt record.