The phrase "authority to refuse" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used in contexts where someone has the power or right to decline a request or action.
Example: "The committee has the authority to refuse any proposals that do not meet the established criteria."
Alternatives: "power to decline" or "right to reject".
I do not recognize that as authority to refuse to answer this question.
But critics of the program said it was well within the agency's authority to refuse money for the stores.
As such, the judge said, Mr. Essenberg was within his authority to refuse to place his own removal on the agenda of a stormy Feb. 4 meeting that resulted in his ouster.
The more difficult question, he said, is whether the co-op board has the authority to refuse to do the repair and to direct the owner to repair the chimney himself or stop using the fireplace.
The pastor said that as part of the wedding ceremony he would issue the marriage licenses and that the provincial registrar "has no authority to refuse to register the licenses".
Karen E. Rushing, the clerk of the state circuit court in Sarasota, said that she was aware that the filings were used to promote tax evasion, but said that "for the most part Florida clerks have no authority to refuse anything" presented for filing.
The government wants to make it easier for public authorities to refuse FOI requests on cost grounds.
One new measure put in place on Monday directs planning authorities to refuse – except in "wholly exceptional circumstances" – permission to frack at World Heritage sites.
"While In Arizona, activists are up in arms after Governor Jan Brewer vetoed a bill allowing authorities to refuse to deport undocumented workers who offend their religious beliefs.
The popularity of his tale, and the fear that others would be drawn to emulate his behaviour, led the authorities to refuse to license any plays in London with "Jack Sheppard" in the title for forty years.
The case therefore made it illegal for health authorities to refuse to provide specific services, with the possible exception of a treatment where 'the clinical evidence of its inefficacy is overwhelming' [ 2].
