Research on Freedom of Information

From: OMDEEP GOKHOOL <omdeep.gokhool1_at_umail.uom.ac.mu>
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 2015 22:43:35 +0400

Hello Shelly,

Please find a summary of the research I have done on 'Freedom Of
Information act' below.

*Introduction*

The legal system in the Mauritius is governed by both by principles derived
both from the French Code Napoleon and the British common law, combining
both the civil and common law practices. The Republic of Mauritius is a
parliamentary democracy modeled on the British system.

Considering this fact I decided to based my research on the 'Freedom of
Information Act 2000' which is is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of
the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information
held by public authorities. It works in two ways,firstly by making it
compulsory for public authorities to publish certain information and
secondly allowing members of public to request for information. After going
through the table of content there were 5 sections which interested me and
I read them and summarized them below.


*Section 1 : General right of access to information held by public
authorities*

It specifies that if someone is requesting an information from a public
authorities, he should be informed by the authorities in written whether
they hold the information and send the information if it is in their
possession.

*Section 8 : Request for information.*

In this Act any reference to a “request for information” is a reference to
such a request which has to be in writing, stating the name of the
applicant and address of correspondence and also the description of
information requested.

A request is to be treated as made in writing where the text of the request is
transmitted by electronic means, can be read clearly and can be used for
further reference.

*Section 9 : Fees *

In this section it is mentioned that the authority from which information
ha been requested may contact the applicant within a certain to inform that
there is a fee to be paid and the amount of the fee. If applicants fails to
pay the fee, the authority will not be obliged to send the information



*Section 10 : Time*Here it is mentioned that a public authority must comply
to the act and in any event not later than the twentieth working day
following the date of receipt. If authority has given a fees notice to the
applicant and the fee is paid in accordingly, the working days in the
period beginning with the day on which the fees notice is given to the
applicant and ending with the day on which the fee is received by the
authority.

*Section 11 : Means by which communication to be made.*

The applicant expresses a preference for communication by any one or more.
It can be in a permanent form or any form acceptable by the applicant. The
authority can refuse to accept certain form and will notify the applicant.
Received on Thu Dec 10 2015 - 18:43:53 PST