Information—9 of 2018
62
Request for access to information
6.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), any person who is a natural person and is a citizen
or a permanent resident of the State may request the Commission to make available to
the person any information held by a public agency.
(2) Notwithstanding any other provision in this Act, the information requested by a
person under subsection (1) must be information which—
(a) directly affects the person making the application; and
(b) comes into existence upon or after the commencement of this Act.
(3) A request made under subsection (1) must—
(a) be made in the form prescribed by regulations made under this Act;
(b) specify the public agency with which the information is held;
(c) specify the particulars of the information requested or such other particulars
as are necessary for the identification of the information requested;
(d) subject to section 12, specify the form preferred by the person making the
request for accessing the information;
(e) comply with any other requirement of the Commission; and
(f) be accompanied by such fee as prescribed by regulations made under this
Act.
(4) For the purposes of this Act, information “directly affects” a person if the
information is about the person or a determination or decision made by a public agency
regarding the person making the request under this section, provided that information
relating to the determination or decision of a public agency or an approval or authorisation
granted by a public agency to a person does not directly affect another person (“second
person”), or a determination or decision regarding the second person, merely because
the public agency has denied or refused an application, approval, claim or request made
by the second person.
Determination of request by the Commission
7. Subject to this Act, the Commission must, within 10 days from the receipt of the
request, determine whether the request is to be accepted or refused.
Acceptance of request by the Commission
8. If the Commission accepts the request made under section 6, the Commission must,
within 20 days from the receipt of the request—
(a) forward the request to the relevant public agency;
(b) direct that public agency to make available to the person who made the
request, where reasonably practicable, all the particulars of the information
specified in the request; and