Transcription of THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT
1 THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS Shon titlc. PART 1. Preliminan, Objccts of Act. Intcrprctation. Publication of INFORMATION by public authority. Application of Act. PART 11. Right Right of ACCESS . Application for ACCESS . Trsnsfcr of requests. Forins of ACCESS . Assistance and dcfcrmcnt of acccss. Deletion of exempt matter. Fees. ctc. Grant of acccss. PART 111. Es-eirrpr Doc~rt~rc~t.~ Documents affecting securiw. defence or international relations. Cabinet documcnts. Docunlcilts relating to law enforcement. Docurt~cnts subicct to legal pri\4cgc. ctc. Documents affecting national economy. Docualcnts rc\.caling Go\,ernmcllt's delibcrati\c prwcsscs.
2 Docunlents relating to business affairs. etc. Docunlcnts rclating to heritage sites. ctc. [The mclusion of this page is authorized by 11 1/2005] 32. Docu~ncnts affecting personill pri\.ac!.. 73. ISSIIC of ccrtificatc re cse~npt documc~lr. PART IV.. IIII~II~~III~II/ c~lrtl. I~rirorc~rio~~ of l'olvonc~l Iiecorriv 21 4ppl icnt 1011 for a rwndn~cnt or amlot at ion of pcrsor~al rccords. 25 Alncndnlent of rccords. 20. An~iotation of pcrsonal rccords. 2?. Notice of a~ncndmcnts or annotations. 28. Transfcr of applications for il111~11dmcut or alu~otation. PART V. Iie~hv 29. Inlcrprctation. 3 1 Proccdurc rr inlcrnal rc\,ic\\ 32 Appcal. PART VI. ,\ ~ieor/.
3 V 33. Protcction from liabilit~ re defaniatior~. brcach of confidcncc or copyrigl~t. 34. Offcncc. 35. Provisions re other Acts. 36. Reports. 38. Review of Act by Parliamentary cornrnittce. SCHEDULES [The inclusion of this page is authorized by 11 1/2005] THE ACCESS TO INFORMATION ACT ~cts 21 of 2002, 1. This Act may be cited as the ACCESS to INFORMATION Act. Sliwititl~. PART I. l'relin7hary 2. The objects of this Act are to reinforce and give further obi~ctsor effect to certain fundamental principles underlying the system of constitutional democracy, namely- (a) governmental accountability; (h) transparency; and () public participation in national decision-making, by granting to the public a general right of ACCESS to ot'ticial documents held by public authorities, subject to exemptions which balance that right against the public intcrest in exempting fiom disclosure governmental, commercial or personal INFORMATION of a sensitive nature.
4 3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires- Inlzrprc- tation. "appointed day" means the 5th day of January, 2004; "document" includes, in addition to a document in writing- (a) any map, plan, graph or drawing; @) any photograph; (c) any disc, tape, sound track or other device in which sounds or other data (not being visual images) are embodied, whether electronically or othei-wisc, SO as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom; [The inclusion of this page is authorized by 11 1/2005] (4 any film (including microfilm), negative, tape or other device in which one or more visual images are embodied whether electronically or otherwise, so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom; "exempt document" means a document which by virtue of any provision of Part 111 is exempt from disclosure; "exempt matter" means any matter the inclusion of which in a document causes that part of the document to be exempt from disclosure.
5 LLg~~ernment company" means a company registered under the Companies Act, being a company in which the Government or an agency of the Government, whether by the holding of shares or by other financial input, is in a position to influence the policy of the company; "official document" means a document held by a public authority in connection with its functions as such, whether or not it was created- (cr) by that authority; or (h) before the 5th day of January, 2004, and for the purposes of this Act, a document is held by a public authority if it is in its possession, custody or control; "public authority" means- (a) a Ministry, department, Executive Agency or other agency of Government; (b) a statutory body or authority; [The inclusion of this page is authorized by 11 1/2005] (c) a Parish Council; (4 the Council of the Kingston and St.)
6 Andrew Corporation; (e) any Government company which- (i) is wholly owned by the Government or an agency of the Government, or in which the Government holds more than fifty per cent shares; or (ii) is specified in an order under section 5 (3); V) any other body or organization specified in an order under section 5 (3); "responsible Ministeryy means the Minister responsible for the public authority which holds an official document. ) A public authority shall cause to be published within publication of infor- twelve months of - (a) the appointed day; (b) its establishment; (c) the coming into operation of an ord er under mation by public authority.
7 Section 5 (1) (a) or (3) which specified that authority; or (6) the application of the provisions of this Act to that 242003 public authority pursuant to section 5 (1) (h), S. 2(c). whichever is later, an initial statement of its organization and functions containing the INFORMATION specified in the First First Schedule. Schedule. [The inclusion of this page is authorized by 11 1/200S] ACCESS TO INFORMATION First Schedule. (2) The provisions of the First Schedule shall apply for the purposes of making available to the public the document described in that Schedule. (3) The infornlation required under subsection (1) shall be published in such manner and shall be updated with such frequency as may be prescribed.
8 (4) The Minister may amend the First Schedule by order subject to affirmative resolution. Application of Act. (1) Subject to subsection (2), this Act applies to- (a) public authorities which are specified by the Minister S. 3(b). by order within eighteen months after the appointed day; and 2412003 (b) all other public authorities immediately after the S. 3(b) expiration of the period of eighteen months referred to in paragraph (a); (c) official documents created by or held by a public authority not earlier than thirty years immediately preceding the appointed day. (2) The Minister may, by order subject to negative resolution, declare that this Act shall apply to official documents 1 created by or held by a public authority at such date, being earlier than the thirty years referred to in subsection (1) (c), as may be specified in that order.
9 (3) The Minister may, by order subject to affirmative resolution, declare that this Act shall apply to- [The inclusion of this page is authorized by 11 112005] ACCESS TO INFORMATION (a) such government companies, other than those specified in paragraph (e) (i) of the definition of "public authority", as may be specified in the order; (b) any other body or organization which provides services of a public nature which are essential to the welfare of the Jamaican society, or to such aspects of their operations as may be specified in the order. (4) An order under subsection (3) may be made subject to such exceptions, adaptations or modifications, as the Minister may consider appropriate.
10 (5) The Minister may, by order subject to affirmative resolution, declare that the application of this Act in relation to any government company specified in paragraph (e) (i) of the definition of "public authority" shall be subject to such exceptions, adaptations or modifications as the Minister may consider appropriate. (6) This Act shall not apply to- (a) the Governor-General, in relation to the exercise of the powers and duties conferred or imposed on him by or under the Constitution of Jamaica or under any other law; (b) the judicial functions of- (i) a court; [The inclusion of this page is authorized by 11 1/2005] ACCESS TO INFORMA TION (ii) the holder of a judicial office or other office connected with a court; (c) the security or intelligence services in relation to their strategic or operational intelligence gathering activities.
