e. bryan - the proposed jamaican acces to information act (part2) [acarm newsletter]

8/9/2019 E. Bryan - The Proposed Jamaican Acces to Information Act (Part2) [ACARM Newsletter]

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ACARM Newsletter

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The Proposed Jamaican Access to Information

Legislation

This is the second of two articles by Emerson O. St. G. Bryan on theproposed introduction of access to information legislation in Jamaica

Human Resources

The need for the government to assess the

psychological impact of the Act on public officials

was one of the many concerns raised. It has been

pointed out that prior to the move towards allowing

access to public information, public officials were

restricted from allowing such access under the

obligations of the Official Secrets Acts (1911)

(1920).

The recommendation made by the Jamaica Archives

and Records Department (JARD) for the

appointment of Information Resource Managers1 and

suitably qualified support staff to spearhead,

co-ordinate and manage Records Management

Programmes in the respective government entities

and to respond to requests under the legislation and

taking any action necessary to put the proposed

legislation into effect, should also be a prelude to an

Access to Information legislation.

Accountability and Security of Official

Documents

I maintain the position that if Freedom of

Information/Access to Information is being looked

at, Privacy and Information Security must also beaddress, as both legislation are complements of each

other).

The custodians of these personal records/data are

ultimately held accountable for the protection and

uses of the information, therefore a number ofsafeguards must be in place:-

Personal information shall be protected bysecurity safeguards appropriate to the level of

sensitivity of the information/document;

The security safeguards shall protect personalinformation against loss or theft, as well as

unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, uses

or modification. Organizations must protect

personal information irrespective of the format

that the information is in;

There must be procedures in place to ensureprotection, such as:-

(a) physical measures, for example, locked

filing cabinets and restricted access to

offices;

(b) organizational measures (for e.g.

Security clearance and limiting access

on a need to know basis); and

(c) technological measures (for e.g, the use

of passwords and encryption devices).

Organizations shall make their employeesaware of the importance of maintaining the

confidentiality of personal information;

Care should be used in the disposal [ordestruction] of personal information, to

prevent unauthorized parties from gainingaccess to information;

Controlling access to work areas andequipment should be factored into the

ergonomics of the lay-out of the furniture,

partitions and equipment. Designating secureareas and enabled workstations should be done

in consultation with the affected employee(s)

and the operations manager/office

manager/facilities manager, without giving too

much away about the logistics of the set-up of

the work area and computer equipment.

Records Management Committee

It might be advisable to establish a Records Advisory

Committee to advise, support and guide theInformation Resource Manager and serve as a link

among the users (both internal and the public-at-

large), members of staff working in the records and

information unit (service provider), information

technology unit, and senior management. This


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committee should not be a large one, as it may defeat

the desired effect. Therefore, only members from

essential areas within the organization and with the

relevant background experience such as legal,

financial, and strategic planning/policy making

should be represented on the committee. The

Information Resource Manager would (of course)

automatically qualify for membership in this group.

The main functions of the Records ManagementCommittee would be to assist in determining the

information needs and requirements of records and

information management unit/department within the

organization. It should function in an advisory

capacity with managerial functions being retained by

the Information Resources Manager. Meetingsshould be held regularly to: debate on unusual or

prominent requests for access to information(especially if the information borders or falls in the

exempted categories) and so that the Information

Resources Manager can inform the committee about

any major changes in operations or direction. Thecommittee should also support requests for additional

funds for expanded physical facilities or additional

staff.

Access to Information Procedures

Government organizations may make information on

its policies and practices in a variety of ways. The

method chosen depends almost entirely on the natureof the organizations business and other

considerations. For example, an organization maychoose to make brochures available in its place of

business, mail information to its stakeholder/users,

provide online access via the Internet, or even

establish a toll free number/voice-mail account.

Under the proposed legislation, public organizations

shall respond to an individual request within a periodof thirty (30) days. The requested information

should also ideally be made available in a format that

is generally understandable. Specifically, in

instances where the organization uses abbreviations

or codes to record information, an explanation shouldbe provided. I believe the best route of providingaccess to documents would be to have a standardized

application form for the public service (this was the

approach taken by Trinidad and Tobago), however a

detailed/specific written request should also be

sufficient as an alternative to the form.

Size of the Document/Information

It must be recognized that if the document being

requested is considered too large or voluminous to be

reproduced in its entirety, the respective government

authority should either allow the applicant/enquirer

to view and then identify and request copies of

specific or relevant sections of the document in order

to limit unnecessary diversion of already limited

government resources.

State of Documents to be released

It should be a policy that only finished documents

be released, as internal working papers may exposetoo much of the governments decision-making

process, reveal the personal opinions of the parties

involved in specific negotiations on behalf of the

Government of Jamaica, may expose the existence of

another document, which if discovered, may have

negative impact on Jamaicas external relations withother countries or relevant organizations and

functions of the countrys decision-makingmachinery, (especially for an organization whose

functions fall within the exempted categories), and

would also leave the civil servants exposed and

would defeat the Westminster-Whitehall practice ofmaintaining the anonymity of the civil servant.

Personnel Records of Civil Servants

In cases where information is being sought from thepersonal record of a civil servant by a member of the

public, further exemptions or limitations on what

exactly should or should not be released must be

considered and justified by the applicant, e.g, healthrecords must be kept strictly confidential, while

information surrounding salary and personal assetsmay be released at the discretion of the relevant

holding authority/custodian of the information and in

keeping with the Jamaica Corruption (Prevention)

Act.

Costs and Charges of the Service

The re-allocation of staff, time and other resources in

order to fulfil the obligations of the new access rights

will automatically mean extra costs for the

organizations concerned. The format and volume ofthe information requested should be factored into thecosts for providing the information. It should also be

adopted public-service-wide that a standard be set for

providing information in certain formats, e.g:-

(a) the costs for replication on paper, whether or

not it previously existed in another format;

(b) the costs of reproducing documents on a page-

by-page basis;


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(c) documents provided on diskettes and other

non-paper mediums be charged according to

the actual cost of procuring the information

(research) in addition to the cost of the

medium to the applicant.

These cost implications are an important reminder

that providing information is not free, they also

enable public authorities to offset the costs they will

incur as a result of additional workloads associatedwith providing an access to information service as

well as generate additional income for the

organization.

Management of Jamaica Government Official

Records and the Proposed Access to Information

Legislation

With regards to official/public records, the practice

currently in place is that the Information Resource

Manager, as the relevant individual with overall

responsibility for the management of that ministry/department/agencys records, would conduct a

records review/inventory/audit of all active and

inactive files/records within the organizations

storage areas/registries, in order to make a fair

assessment of whether it merits retention, if it is ofcontinuing administrative, fiscal, legal or research

value, or whether it should be preserved, if it has

historical value, or whether it is to be destroyed.

Those records which are not scheduled for automaticdestruction after a fixed period of time are assessed

after a certain amount of years to determine if theyare of historical (archival) value or can be destroyed.

Current criteria governing the closure (and in some

cases the retention) of inactive government records

are designed to protect against disclosure of state

records which could harm state national security,

international relations, defence, and the economicinterests of the state; or if they reveal information

that was given in confidence to the government, or

which would distress or endanger individuals (and

possibly their off-springs) who might be affected

negatively by the disclosure. The release of theserecords would need to be specially addressed in thecode of practice of the proposed Act.

These records may also be lent out to the other

respective branches of the government for a variety

of administrative and research purposes. The fact

that these records are away on loan to another

government authority does not relieve that authority

(i.e., the receiving authority) of the responsibility to

ensure that its contents are kept confidential while in

its custody. It must also be the practice by those

government entities who have been lent records from

other government entities, not to disclose/release/

publish information from lent records unless so

authorized by the original owner(s)/custodians of the

records. Owners of original documentation which

may be found elsewhere in the government services

must be consulted when it is not specified or clearly

indicated within the document itself, that the

document be replicated.

Conclusion

While I did not get to go in-depth into the important

issue of intellectual property and access to

information, I have analyzed the established bestpractices in records management which would better

ensure the implementation and the survival/maintenance of an access to information legislation

programme in the Jamaican public services. I would

recommend that the Jamaican Government go the

route of the British by establishing a Code ofPractice, which will guide the applications of the

Act and the disclosure of government information.

For instance, in order for an application for access to

certain categories of records/information to be

approved, the relevant government authority/authorities concerned must deliberate and then grant

(or in some cases - refuse to grant) access along set

procedures such as the Public Interest2

test, and

within a certain time frame, dependent upon theagency concerned and the nature of the information

involved. In cases where a refusal occurs, theapplicant must be given provision to challenge that

decision. However, if it is felt by the custodians/

owners of the document/information that the release

(or even the revelation of the existence) of a certain

document/information might prove harmful to the

interests of the Nation, the authority not to disclosethat information must be invested in the head of that

particular government organization, even if the

document does not qualify under the parameters of

the exempted documents category. While some may

argue that this will defeat the whole purpose of theproposed Act, there must be provisions in place forthe protection of the interests of Jamaica.

I will maintain the position that the institution of

good records management practices in government

organizations by themselves will not guarantee the

success of an Access to Information Legislation.

There would need to be additional logistical,

financial, and managerial/political support in order to

ensure the better success of such an instrument of

authority.


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Bibliography

Document entitled: Open Government, by William

Waldegrave, MP, (1993 July), HM Printing Office,

(United Kingdom) (Cmnd. 2290);

The Freedom of Information Act (2000), Chapter 36;

(United Kindom); URL: http://www.hmso.gov.uk/

acts/acts2000/2000 0036.htm

The Access to Information Act(1985); R.S. 1985,

c.A-1; (Canada); URL: http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/

A-1/8.html

The Freedom of Information and Protection of

Privacy Act (1994) of the Province of Alberta,Chapter F-18-5 (with amendments in force as of

25/04/2001); (Canada) URL: http://www.gov.ab.ca/foip/legislation/oip_act t/index.ciiii

The Freedom of Access to Administrative

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URL: http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foia_updates/Vol_

XVII_4/page2.htm;

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page2.htm

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Hon. Prime Minister, P. J. Patterson, entitled: An

Act to Provide to Jamaican Citizens and Persons

residing permanently in Jamaica, a general right of

access to official records and for connected matters;

(Jamaica);

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from Office of the Prime Minister entitled:

Proposals for a Freedom of Information Act (1998);(Jamaica);

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to Open Government (1996), Jamaica Printing

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23rd April 2001, entitled: The Right to Freedom ofOpinion and Expression;

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August 16th);

Copy of the Submission made to the National

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Administrators (ARMA International);

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The Final Report of the Joint Select Committee of

the Houses of Parliament on Constitutional and

Electoral Reform (1995), Office of the Cabinet

(OPM),(Jamaica);

Copy of Guidelines and Standards for Special

Libraries in Jamaica (1987) by the Jamaica Library

Association (now LIAJA);

Copy of Standards for Special Libraries (1964);Special Libraries Association and the Jamaica

Library Association;

Copy of the Presentation made at the JARMA

Breakfast Seminar on the 25th January 2001, by

Miss Sandra P. Wright, CISA, CIA, CCP, CFSA,Computer Information Systems Auditor,

Management Audit Department, University of theWest Indies. E-mail: [email protected]

or [email protected].

Authors Profile

Emerson O. Bryan, is the Records and Information

Manager of the Ministry of Land and Environment,

prior to this, he worked as a Records Officer in both

the Information Systems and Records Unit and theHuman Resource Management Department of the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.

Mr. Bryan has benefited from various courses,

seminars, lectures and training sessions in records,document and information management. He is a

graduate of the University of the West IndiesCertificate in Records Management Programme and

is currently in pursuit of his Baccalaureate at the

University of the West Indies, Mona, majoring in

Library and Information Science and minoring in

Public Administration. In addition, He has also

pursued studies in Public Administration, also at theUniversity of the West Indies and Computer Science

at the University of Technology, Jamaica.

Mr. Bryan is an active member of Jarma - the

Jamaican Chapter of the Association of RecordsManagers and Administrators (Arma International),an associate member of Liaja - the Library and

Information Association of Jamaica (formerly the

Jamaica Library Association JLA), an International

Individual Member of the Association of

Commonwealth Archivists and Records Managers

(Acarm), and an enlisted member of the Jamaica

Defence Force Coast Guard (National Reserves).

Purpose of the Paper

This paper seeks to highlight (though not in detail)

the possible implications that the Proposed Access

to Information Legislation will have on both the

public sector, and to a lesser degree, non-

governmental entities, such as: Cable and Wireless

Jamaica, Jamaica Public Service Company Limited,

commercial banks etc. The paper also analyses the

various procedures that would need to be in place forthe successful delivery of an Access to Information

Service within these affected entities. Along these

lines, several documents and legislation from several

CARICOM and Commonwealth states were included

to better identify international best practices and

standards, which would ensure the establishment,maintenance and adherence of these standards.

The approach used was, since the public service

would be the most affected sector, the research

centered around how the proposed legislation would

affect current records management practices andprocedures and the way it (government) does

business with the people. Recent developments

within the political/public service arena (namely:

NetServe, Operation PRIDE/National Housing

Development Corporation (NHDC)), has awaken thepublics interest in the operations of the Government,

and the way it spends public funds. We can fully

expect that the records of these entities (and indeed

other public entities or entities with the state as itsmajority stakeholder) will be scrutinized at some

time or the other by the man on the street, thereforeit is timely that this piece of legislation will be

passed (hopefully) with the appropriate guidelines in

place to regulate the disclose of the States

information assets. s

Endnotes

___________________

1This person is usually delegated by the civil head of

the government entity (i.e, the permanent

secretary/head of department/CEO), who is theaccountable officer within the organization.2 Which is weighting the possible threat that the

release of any Official information might have on the

domestic or international affairs of the State

Disclaimer

The views expressed in this document are

exclusively mine and do not necessarily reflect the

opinions of my employer the Government of Jamaica

or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade.