New step in implementation of freedom of information law
Public officials are to be supplied with a code of practice that will guide them on how to follow up requests for disclosure of information under the freedom of information act.
The code of practice, timeframes for compliance and fees for the disclosure of information, are set to come into force on 21 April.
Fees ranging from €5 to a maximum €40 will be charged for the identification and search of documents or consultation on the disclosure of information.
Applicants who consider that a public authority did not meet their requirements for a FOIA request may file a complaint with the public authority concerned within 30 days. Complaints to the Commissioner for Information and Data Protection can be filed within 60 days of the final communication with the public authority concerned.
Public authorities will also make application forms readily available to the public at their premises and online on their website, and will also assist applicants in filing in the application forms.
The freedom of information law is still being gradually implemented: legal sources said Article 23, the clause that actually provides for the Commissioner to receive applications for the release of information in case of prior refusal, must be in force to invoke a freedom of information request.
“When all the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act are brought into force, one of the functions of the Commissioner for Information and Data Protection will be that of deciding on applications for the release of information where the request is originally refused by a public authority,” commissioner Joseph Ebejer told MaltaToday.
While Malta’s Freedom of Information Act is being phased in so as to ensure public authorities are adequately prepared for its proper implementation, the law appears to be at loggerheads with the Council of Europe’s convention on access to official documents. The Maltese law contains a clause that prohibits anyone who has not lived in Malta for more than five years to apply for an FOIA disclosure.
This category of people can exclude non-Maltese residents, foreign journalists, asylum seekers and others from making freedom of information requests. The discriminatory clause is at odds with the spirit of the Council of Europe’s convention, which states that state parties will guarantee the right of “everyone, without discrimination on any ground, to have access, on request, to official documents held by public authorities.”
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