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FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 - SECT 8 Certain documents to be available for inspection and purchase

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 1982 - SECT 8

Certain documents to be available for inspection and purchase

    (1)     This section applies, in respect of an agency, to documents that are provided by the agency for the use or guidance of, or are used or may be used by, the agency or its officers

        (a)     in making decisions or recommendations, or in providing advice to persons outside the agency, with respect to rights, privileges or benefits, or to obligations, penalties or other detriments, to or for which persons are or may be entitled, eligible or subject, being—

              (i)     documents containing interpretations or particulars of Acts or schemes administered by the agency, not being particulars contained in another Act; or

              (ii)     manuals, rules of procedure, statements of policy, records of decisions, letters of advice to persons outside the agency, or similar documents containing rules, policies, guidelines, practices or precedents; and

        (b)     in enforcing Acts or schemes administered by the agency where a member of the public might be directly affected by that enforcement, being documents containing information on the procedures to be employed or the objectives to be pursued in the enforcement of the Acts or schemes.

    (2)     The principal officer of an agency shall—

        (a)     as from a date as soon as practicable after the commencement of this Part—

              (i)     cause copies of all documents to which this section applies in respect of the agency to be made available for inspection and for purchase by members of the public; and

              (ii)     cause to be published in the prescribed form a statement (which may take the form of an index) specifying the documents that are, at the time of preparation of the statement, so available and the place or places where copies may be inspected and may be purchased; and

        (b)     within twelve months after the publication of the first statement under paragraph (a) and thereafter at intervals of twelve months, cause to be published in a prescribed form statements bringing up to date the information contained in the previous statement or statements.

    (3)     This section does not require a document of the kind referred to in subsection (1) containing exempt matter to be made available in accordance with subsection (2), but, if such a document is not so made available, the principal officer of the agency shall, if practicable, cause to be prepared a corresponding document, altered only to the extent necessary to exclude the exempt matter, and cause the document so prepared to be dealt with in accordance with subsection (2).

    (4)     A document from which exempt matter has been excluded in accordance with subsection (3) shall indicate, to the extent practicable without exempt matter being disclosed, the nature of the matter excluded.

    (5)     Notwithstanding the opinion of the principal officer that a document of the kind referred to in subsection (1) is an exempt document, if the fact of the existence of that document can be published in accordance with subsection (2)(a)(ii) without exempt matter being disclosed, the principal officer of the agency shall cause that fact to be published.

    (6)     An agency that comes into existence after the commencement of this Part shall comply—

        (a)     with the provisions of subsection (2)(a) as soon as practicable after the day on which the agency comes into existence and not later than twelve months after that day; and

        (b)     with the provisions of subsection (2)(b) as if the reference to "first publication" in that paragraph were a reference to first publication in compliance with this subsection.