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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 No. 3 of 1982 - SECT 35 Executive Council documents

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 No. 3 of 1982 - SECT 35

Executive Council documents
35. (1) A document is an exempt document if it is -

   (a)  a document that has been submitted to the Executive Council for its
consideration or is proposed by a Minister to be so submitted, being a
document that was brought into existence for the purpose of submission
for consideration by the Executive Council;

   (b)  an official record of the Executive Council;

   (c)  a document that is a copy of, or of a part of, or contains an extract
from, a document referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); or

   (d)  a document the disclosure of which would involve the disclosure of any
deliberation or advice of the Executive Council, other than a document
by which an act of the Governor-General, acting with the advice of the
Executive Council, was officially published.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a certificate signed by the Secretary to the
Executive Council, or a person performing the duties of the Secretary,
certifying that a document is one of a kind referred to in a paragraph of
sub-section (1) establishes conclusively, subject to the operation of Part VI,
that it is an exempt document of that kind.

(3) Where a document is a document referred to in paragraph (1) (c) or (d) by
reason only of matter contained in a particular part or particular parts of
the document, a certificate under sub-section (2) in respect of the document
shall identify that part or those parts of the document as containing the
matter by reason of which the certificate is given.

(4) For the purposes of this Act, a certificate signed by the Secretary to the
Executive Council, or a person performing the duties of the Secretary,
certifying that a document as described in a request would, if it existed, be
one of a kind referred to in a paragraph of sub-section (1) establishes
conclusively, subject to the operation of Part VI, that, if such a document
exists, it is an exempt document of that kind.

(5) Where a certificate in accordance with sub-section (4) has been signed in
respect of a document as described in a request, the decision on the request
may be a decision that access to a document as described in the request is
refused on the ground that, if such a document existed, it would be an
exempt document referred to in the paragraph of sub-section (1) that is
specified in the certificate.