Vexed Bermoothes

Bermuda has been waiting for the promised freedom of information bill for a long time.  The whole process behind Government’s efforts have been pretty stretched out and secretive – which goes against the whole concept of a transparency law!

Barbados has recently published a draft law for public consultation.  If enacted, Barbados will be joining 80 other countries with PATI laws, including the Caribbean countries of Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago.

Several of these countries have drawn upon the expertise of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative in drafting their laws.  The CHRI recently published comments on the proposed Barbados law:

• They praise the law for specifically acknowledging the “Atlanta Declaration and Plan of Action for the Advancement of the Right of Access to Information” [pdf] published earlier this year by the Carter Center.
• They suggest replacing blanket exclusions with tests that balance probable harm against the public interest. For example, the proposed law excludes Commissions of Inquiry, the Office of the Governor General, various court offices, the internal proceedings of Parliament, and Cabinet documents.  Bodies supported by taxpayers, and bodies financed by public money and mandated to perform actions for the people, should all be covered.
• They suggest that exemptions should also not be granted in perpetuity. The law should include a sunset clause, requiring a public authority to disclose information where, for example, more than ten years has elapsed since information has been created or decision has been made.
• Lastly, they suggest that placing PATI enforcement on the Ombudsman is unrealistic as that office will have little adjudicatory power.  They propose instead a multi-member and independent Information Commission to settle disputes and to monitor the compliance of public authorities covered by the access law.

If Bermuda is serious about forming a public access to information law, it must be a bipartisan and transparent effort, and we should enlist the assistance of external experts in the field such as CHRI and Article XIX.