The Freedom of Information Act
Eligible
persons are entitled to submit Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to all
established Public Authorities, including those listed under the Ministry for Energy and Water Management.
Submitting a Request / Complaint
Eligible Persons:
In order to
be eligible to submit FOI requests, a person has to be a resident in Malta and
to have been so for a period of at least five years. Such person has to be also
either a citizen of Malta or a citizen of any other member state of the
European Union or a citizen of any other state the citizens of which have a
right, in virtue of any treaty between such state and the European Union, to be
treated in Malta in the same manner as citizens of member states of the
European Union.
FOI requests or
Complaint forms have to be submitted in writing, and can be sent by e-mail to foi.mew@gov.mt or through the FOI portal www.foi.gov.mt via the e-ID or through the online form.
Information to be Provided
When submitting
an FOI Request, applicants will be required, apart from providing contact
details, to give an indication of the document / information that they wish to
obtain. They will also need to indicate the format in which they wish to
receive such document / information, namely as a hard copy/print-out, as an
electronic copy, in the form of a summary / excerpt of contents or by on-site
inspection of the document / information in question. Copies of the ID card or
passport and/or additional documentation, as deemed necessary may be
requested by the Public Authority, in the case of requests relating specifically
to the individual, individual's assets/interests/right of access.
Types of Requests
In essence,
one may ask for any article that is held by a public authority and on which
information has been recorded in whatever form, including electronic data,
images, scale models and other visual representations, and audio or video
recordings, regardless of whether the information can be read, seen, heard or
retrieved with or without the aid of any other article or device. One may also
ask for documentation which contains policies, principles, rules or guidelines
in accordance with which decisions or recommendations are made in respect of
members of the public (including bodies corporate and employees of the public
authority in their personal capacity). Furthermore, eligible persons have the
right to request information (in the form of a written statement) on a decision
or recommendation made in their respect or in respect of a body corporate which
they represent.
Acknowledgements
FOI requests
will be duly acknowledged by the Public Authorities. The acknowledgement forms
will include a unique reference number and an indication of the date by when
the response will be given. The forms shall also include specific information
related to the Public Authority, such as its address, telephone numbers, e-mail
addresses, opening hours and also details of its internal complaints procedure.
Checks to be carried out by the Public Authority
On receipt of
the application form, the Public Authority will verify whether the request
qualifies as an FOI request and will inform the applicant accordingly if this
is not the case. If it transpires that additional information / documentation
is required, applicants will be contacted by the Public Authority to whom the
request has been submitted and they will be provided with all possible
assistance in order to ensure that such request complies with the provisions of
the Act. This notwithstanding, when submitting an FOI request, applicants are
not required to provide any justifications for requesting any particular
documentation / information.
The Public
Authority will also verify whether the requested document / information is held
at its end. If this is not the case such Public Authority will seek to identify
the proper entity to whom the request should be submitted and will transfer
such application accordingly (informing the applicant in the process). If no
alternative entity is identified (meaning that the document / information
cannot be traced at any Public Authority) the applicant will be informed
accordingly.
Processing of request
Once it
establishes that a request is an FOI request and can be addressed from its end,
the Public Authority will determine whether it can provide the applicant with
the document / information requested (in full or in part) or whether it will
refuse the request. Prior to taking a decision in this regard, the Public
Authority shall consider whether any of the exemptions listed in the FOI Act
apply. The Public Authority will submit notification of whether the request
will be accepted or not within 20 working days from its receipt. An additional 20 working days extension can be further
applied, bringing up the total to a maximum of 40 working days from the date of
the receipt of the original request.
Payment of Fee
When
submitting a response to the Applicant, the Public Authority shall indicate
whether any fees apply. If applicable, such fees shall cover only the costs
related to making a document available to the applicant, namely hours of
processing, costs of photocopies / faxes and digital media and costs related to
inspections. Notwithstanding the above, the total applicable fee shall not
exceed €40. No additional fees can be incurred for submitting applications or
complaints.
Remedial Action
If the applicant is not satisfied with the
response provided by the Public Authority vis-à-vis its request, the applicant
is entitled to submit a complaint to the same Public Authority. If,
subsequently, the applicant remains unsatisfied with the response received, s/he
may lodge an appeal with the Information and Data Protection Commissioner
(IDPC). If the applicant remains dissatisfied with the outcome of the appeal s/he
may appeal to the Information and Data Protection Tribunal and, subsequently,
to the Court of Appeal. Complaints may be submitted for the following reasons:
§ The Public Authority has applied an extension to
the 20-working day deadline to notify the application whether access would be
given to the document / information requested
§ The Public Authority has imposed a fee which is
deemed to be excessive
§ The document is not being provided in the
requested format
§ The request is being refused (for e.g. request
not deemed to be an FOI request)
§ The Public Authority does not respect the 20
working day deadline (or the deadline indicated in the notification of
extension, if applicable) for submitting a response
Applicants
may submit a complaint through the IDPC’s website by clicking here.
Receiving documentation / information
Whenever a
Public Authority communicates a decision to an Applicant that access to a
document / information will be granted, the applicant shall also be invited to
effect payment of fees (if applicable). Within 10 working days following
payment, the Public Authority will provide the document / information in the
same format as the applicant had originally requested or, if this is not
possible, in any other format deemed appropriate by the Public Authority.
Applicants who submit requests through the FOI portal (www.foi.gov.mt) may be provided with the possibility of
downloading the document / information directly from the site.
If no fee
will be charged, the document / information will be provided within 10 working
days following notification. The request shall be considered to have been
abandoned by the applicant if payment is not effected within 20 working days
following notification.
----------------
Public Authorities under the Ministry for Energy
and Water Management
Information
provided according to Article 17 of the Freedom of Information Act may be
viewed by accessing the above links or by contacting the Principal Freedom
of Information Officer, Ministry for Energy and Water Management, 52, Old
Theatre Street, Valletta Tel: (+356) 22917100.