Vexed Bermoothes

As widely reported, the Bermuda draft freedom of information law (aka PATI) allows great scope for Government to sit on information.

• For example, the law proposes a lengthy (2-3 year)  implementation period and will only apply to information collected after its effective date.
• There is a long list of specific exemptions, as well as vague wording that allows authorities to claw a wide variety of information into the exemptions.
• There is a 30 year exemption for records associated with Cabinet.
• It leaves the subject of fees open (fees should cover only the cost of duplication as opposed to research).

On the whole, it is a rather opaque transparency law.

It also misses a singular opportunity to protect whistleblowers (where an insider reveals information of wrongdoing, even if they break rules or other obligations in doing so).  The Cayman FOIA law, enacted last year after a one-year implementation period, does deal with this:

50. (1) No person may be subject to any legal, administrative or employment related sanction, regardless of any breach of a legal or employment-related obligation, for releasing information on wrong-doing, or that which would disclose a serious threat to health, safety or the environment, as long as he acted in good faith and in the reasonable belief that the information was substantially true and disclosed evidence of wrong-doing or a serious threat to health, safety or the environment.
(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), “wrongdoing” includes but is not limited to-
(a) the commission of a criminal offence;
(b) failure to comply with a legal obligation;
(c) miscarriage of justice; or
(d) corruption, dishonesty, or serious maladministration.

This is very relevant to Bermuda.  Why is it not covered in the proposed Bermuda law?

See more here.