Annual Report 2005

Freedom of Information

Requests for information during 2005

The Standards Commission received no requests for release of records under the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003 during 2005. One request was on hand at the beginning of 2005. Access to the records requested was granted in full.

Section 15/16 Manual

The Standards Commission has published a combined manual under Section 15 and 16 of the Freedom of Information Acts 1997 and 2003, setting out:

(a) its structure and organisation, its functions, powers and duties, the nature of the documentation held by it and the process by which requests for information can be made, and

(b) the rules, procedures, practices, guidelines, interpretations and precedents which the public may expect under any enactment or scheme operated by the Standards Commission in the areas of decisions, determinations or recommendations, together with appropriate information in relation to the manner or intended manner of administration of any such enactment or scheme.

The manual is available on the Standards Commission's website.

Prohibition on disclosure of information

Under section 35 of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995, an offence is committed by disclosing information which is obtained under the Ethics Acts, or which is obtained by attending a meeting of the Standards Commission held in private. This prohibition on disclosure of information extends to requests for records made under the Freedom of Information Acts. Section 35 provides a number of specific exemptions to this absolute rule whereby information may be disclosed in the following circumstances:

• by a Minister of the Government when it is deemed by him or her to be in the public interest;
• by a person to whom a statement of interest was provided if that person believes that a conflict may exist between an interest disclosed or not disclosed in a statement, and the public interest;
• by a person in the performance of his or her functions;
• by a person, in the public interest, to a Minister, the Secretary General to the Government, a Committee on Members' Interests, the Standards Commission or, in the case of an occupier of a designated position, the relevant authority in the public body;
• by the Standards Commission in accordance with an order of a court;
• by, or with the permission of, a person to whom the information relates, of information contained in a report of an investigation by the Standards Commission or a Committee on Members' Interests which has not been laid before either House (e.g. where a report following an investigation of a public servant carried out by the Standards Commission did not conclude that there had been a contravention of the Ethics Acts).

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