(Gazetted 14th May, 1994.) BE ITENACTED, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives and the Senate of Belize and by the authority of the same, as follows: PART I PRELIMINARY Short title. 1. This Act may be cited as the FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT, 1994. Commencement. 2. This Act shall come into operation on a day to beappointed by the Minister by Order published ir. the Gazette. Interpretation. 3.-(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires "applicant" means a person who has made a request; " Department" means a Department of the Government of Belize; "document" includes public contracts, grants or leases of land, or any written or printed matter, any map, plan or photograph, and any article or thing that has been so treated in relation to any sounds or visual images that those sounds or visual images are capable, with or without the aid of some other device, of being reproduced from the article or thing, and includes a copy of any such matter, map, plan, photograph, article or thing, but does not include library material maintained for reference purposes; "enactment" means an Act or an instrument (including rules, regulations or by-laws) made under an Act; "exempt document" means a document which, by virtue of a provision of Part IV, is an exempt document; "exempt matter" means matter the inclusion of which in a document causes the document to be an exempt document; "Minister" or "Minister administering this Act" means the Minister who has been assigned responsibility under the Constitution for information; "Ministry" means a Ministry of the Government and includes a Minister, Minister of State and officers and servants of that Ministry; "Ombudsman" means the Ombudsman established under the Ombudsman Act;