Betænkning om offentlighedsloven Bind 2 - Justitsministeriet ...

Offentlighedskommissionens betænkning – Kapitel 28
with a material (functional) criterion, where in defining the scope of the Access
to Public Administration Files Act there is emphasis on whether the body in
question carries out ”public administrative activity”. In the chapter the Commission
has also in particular considered whether the scope of the law should
be expanded to cover also publicly owned enterprises and private institutions,
associations etc.
Chapter 10 of the white paper contains an assessment of which documents
should be covered by the right of access to documents, including whether the
document concept should continue to be technology neutral. The chapter contains,
inter alia, the Commission’s deliberations concerning the extent to which
e-mails and text messages should be covered by the law’s document concept
and the extent to which there should be a right of access to documents in the
records of public authorities etc.
The question of the significance of technological development for the scope
and nature of the right to access is taken up in Chapter 11. The chapter contains,
inter alia, a detailed review of the databases of the public administration and
their technological composition. In the chapter the Commission has considered
whether an access to the database itself (raw data) should be introduced.
The Commission has also considered whether the public should have access
to demanding that an administrative authority should compare information
stored in the authority’s databases (data extraction), and demand access to the
so-called data description linked to the individual database.
Chapter 12 of the white paper contains a review of whether any conditions apply
or should apply to making use of the rules in the Access to Public Adminis
tra tion Files Act on access to documents. In the chapter the Commission has
thus in particular considered the extent to which the so-called identification
requirement should be maintained in the new Access to Public Administration
Files Act. In this context the Commission has also considered the extent to
which resource-related conditions can substantiate the rejection of a request
for file access.
Chapter 13 of the white paper gives an account of the duty of the authorities to,
inter alia, take notes of orally received information in decisions. In the chapter
the Commission has considered, inter alia, whether the duty to take notes
should be extended to other cases than decisions.
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