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Archive -President Danny Faure

‘Right of Access to Information’ becomes law |21 July 2018

 

 

 

 

Members of the public will now be in better position to gain access to information from government ministries, departments and agencies with the coming into effect of the Access to Information Act 2018.

The said Act, which guarantees the right to access information under Article 28 of the Constitution by any person, was signed into effect by President Danny Faure in a small ceremony at State House yesterday morning.

Under the Act members of the public will have the right to gain information held by public bodies for personal use and also in an attempt to know of their activities, unless under exceptional circumstances of non-disclosure in the interest of state security or personal confidentiality. Each public body will appoint one or two information officers to pass on information to the public. They will also have to have a website with updated information for the public to access to.

Based on the African Union (AU) model, the Access to Information Act 2018 will be administered and applied by an independent Information Commission to be appointed by President Faure in consultation with the Speaker of the National Assembly, upon request from the Constitutional Appointment Authority (CAA).

It will be a self governing, neutral body, which shall not be subject or control by any person or authority.

Once established the Information Commission shall make recommendations to President Faure for appointment of a chief executive officer. 

Under the law now, public bodies have 14 to 30 days or more to answer to a requested information unless there is a good reason for them not to under exceptional circumstances under non-disclosure.

The Access to Information Bill 2018 was published in the Official Gazette on March 24, 2017 and was discussed and approved by the National Assembly on May 22, 2018.

The signing of the Act by President Faure was attended by the Minister for Information, Vice-President Vincent Meriton; Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon; Attorney General Frank Ally; Ombudsman Nichole Tirant-Ghérardi;  government officials as well as representatives from the media commission, media houses and Citizens Engagement Platform (Ceps).

Also present were Pierre Rosaris Domingue and Sabir Kadel from the Mauritius Law Reform Commission, who were here participating in the Civil Code reform debate by the National Assembly.

Addressing the gathering, Vice-President Meriton, who holds the ministerial portfolio for information, said that giving the public access to such information will help make the public bodies accountable for their actions and allow the public to be better informed, make better decisions and become more productive.

Vice-President Meriton said the law “opens a new and important chapter in our democracy by giving additional power to the people to participate in the affairs of government and consequently their own”, thus creating a new era of openness which is fundamental for good health of a modern state that will do away with unnecessary secrecy in government.

With the assent of the act, “Seychelles joins other democracies throughout the world, resolves to establish all the necessary structures to give the population the means to contribute through information sharing,” Vice-President Meriton said.  

Vice-President Meriton noted that for the law to be successfully implemented, the public bodies must adopt a new mindset of openness as they will be ones who will create and manage the information to be requested by the public through their information officers.

Vice-President Meriton added that as capacity building is vital at this juncture, local facilitators and that from the World Bank will provide training and awareness on the act for information officers and the general public.

“The public need to be completely aware of their rights under the law and how to enforce them without abuse,” Vice-President Meriton said.

 

 

 

 

 

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