Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey - Federation of ...

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Sanctions and Protections
The RTI Law includes a number of sanctions and protections. It is an offence where, in the context of a
request for information, any person “alters, defaces, blocks, erases, destroys or conceals any record held
by the public authority, with the intention of preventing the disclosure by that authority of all, or any part,
of the information”, punishable by a fi ne (section 77).
The Law also provides that no defamation suit shall lie in respect of the disclosure of information provided
by third parties, unless that disclosure was actuated by malice (section 79). The RTI Law does not provide
protection to whistleblowers, but another law does provide a detailed scheme of protection for so-called
public interest disclosures. 303
Promotional Measures
The RTI Law contains a number of promotional measures. At a very general level, it provides for monies
to be allocated to ensure its proper implementation (section 85). While it does not specifi cally provide for
the appointment of information offi cers, the 2004 Code of Practice does require the provision of an address
and telephone number to which requests may be directed, “where possible that of a named individual”
(paragraph 5).
In addition to the Code of Practice mandated by section 45 of the Law, the Lord Chancellor (the Minister of
Justice) is required, pursuant to section 46, to issue a Code of Practice providing guidance to public bodies
regarding the keeping, management and destruction of their records. This Code shall also deal with the
issue of transfer of records to the Public Record Offi ce (the archives), including the destruction of those
records which are not to be transferred.
Neither of the Codes are technically binding, although to some extent they may be considered to elaborate
on binding obligations in the primary legislation. However, the Information Commission has a mandate
to promote compliance with them, specifi cally through the issuing of practice recommendations on the
extent to which public bodies are complying with their provisions (section 48).
As a matter of practice, the Department for Constitutional Affairs (DCA) has provided a number of guidance
notes for public offi cials on how to implement the Law. 304 The DCA no longer exists and responsibility for
this has now passed to the Ministry of Justice. The latter now issues an annual report on implementation
of the Law. 305
The Information Commissioner has a general mandate under section 47 to promote compliance with the
Law, the two codes of practice and generally good practice in relation to the maintenance and disclosure
of information. For this purpose, the Commissioner is specifi cally empowered to provide information on
matters within the scope of his or her functions, to assess the performance of any public body (section 47),
and to report annually, as well as on an ad hoc basis, to parliament (section 49). 306