|
The Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act sets out a legislated process by which you can exercise your right to access information respecting the public business of public bodies.
If you are unable to access the information you want by using an informal approach or by other established procedures, you can make a request for that information under RTIPPA. You can either use the form available, or you can write a letter outlining your request under the Act.
Simply follow these three steps:
1. |
Determine which public body is most likely to have the information you are looking for and get the relevant contact information from the Directory of Public Bodies. All requests for information should be addressed to the head of the public body. |
2. |
You must include the following information in your request: |
- A description of what you are looking for, including the subject-matter of your request and the time, place and nature of the event. Please be as specific as possible, as this will better enable the relevant records to be identified;
- Your name and mailing address;
- Your e-mail address, if any;
- A telephone number where you can be reached;
- The date of the request;
- That your request is being made as a request for access to a record under the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act;
- The name of the business organization on behalf of which you are making the request, if any;
- Whether you are asking to examine a record (i.e. in person, at the public body’s location); and
- Whether you are asking for a copy of a record and (where it is possible to send the record electronically) whether you are able to receive the record by electronic means.
|
3. |
Send your request to the head of the relevant public body. Please note: there are no longer any fees for requests made under the Right to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. |
All requests must be in writing. An oral request will only be accepted from an applicant if the applicant is unable to read and write in English or French, or if the applicant has a disability that prevents the applicant from completing a written request.
If you are requesting public or personal information on behalf of someone else, you will need written authorization to do so. This authorization can be in the form of a signed letter, a Proof of Authority form, a Power of Attorney, or other legislated authorization. Please see section 79 for more details.
If you have any questions about making a request for information, please contact the RTIPPA Coordinator at the appropriate public body. The Coordinators are knowledgeable and trained to deal with requests under the Act.
The head of a public body will reply to you, in writing, within 30 days of receiving a request.
In this response, you may be granted the information you are seeking, in whole or in part, or the information may be refused for reasons that will be identified to you. In certain circumstances, the head of the public body may need to do the following before responding:
- Extend the 30-day time period. The head of a public body is permitted to extend the time period for providing the requested information for a maximum of 30 additional days if:
- There is not enough detail given in the request to enable the public body to identify the desired record(s). In such a case, the public body will contact the applicant for clarification and the applicant will have 30 days to respond. If the applicant does not reply within 30 days, the request will be considered to be abandoned, and the public body will send a notification to this effect.
- The request includes a large number of records, or responding to the request within the original 30-day timeframe would interfere unreasonably with the daily operations of the public body.
- The information requested includes information relating to a third party, and the head of the public body needs more time in order to determine whether it is appropriate to give access to the third party information.
- The information requested is related to records that are part of a court proceeding.
- Transfer your request to another public body. This would occur if the head of the public body has determined that the records you are requesting:
- were produced by or for the other public body;
- were first obtained by the other public body; and/or,
- are in the custody and control of the other public body.
The head of the public body has 10 days to transfer the request and to notify you that your request for information has been transferred to another public body. The head of the receiving public body has 30 days after receiving the request to respond (unless the time is extended for reasons described above), as if it was received directly from the applicant.
If you don’t hear back from the public body after sending your request, you have up to 120 days (from the day you sent your request) to file a complaint to the Access to Information and Privacy Commissioner regarding the public body’s lack of a response. See Review Process for details on how to file a complaint.
RTIPPA provides for two types of exceptions that may affect the release of information: mandatory exceptions and discretionary exceptions. The types of information that are considered to be exceptions to the general right to information are listed below; more details can be found in the wording of the legislation itself (see links).
| Mandatory Exceptions - Confidential Information |
 |
In most instances, the public body is not permitted to release the following types of information:
- Cabinet documents and other records that would reveal Cabinet confidences (Section 17)
- Information provided in confidence by another government (Section 18)
- Information provided in confidence by a First Nations council (Section 19)
- Certain information relating to a harassment, personnel or university investigation (Section 20)
- Personal information that would be considered an unreasonable invasion of a third party’s privacy (Section 21)
- Information the disclosure of which would be harmful to a third party’s business or financial interests (Section 22)
Discretionary Exceptions - Information Released at the
Discretion of the Public Body |
|
The head of the public body may withhold the following types of information:
- Information the disclosure of which would be harmful to government relations (Section 23)
- Information the disclosure of which would be harmful to relations between New Brunswick and a First Nations council (Section 24)
- Information that would reveal local public body confidences (Section 25)
- Advice, opinions and recommendations given to a public body (Section 26)
- Legal advice given to a public body and other information subject to solicitor-client privilege (Section 27)
- Information the disclosure of which would be harmful to an individual’s health or safety or to public safety in general (Section 28)
- Information the disclosure of which would be harmful to law enforcement, corrections or legal proceedings (Section 29)
- Information the disclosure of which would be harmful to the economic or financial interests of a public body (Section 30)
- Information that would compromise the validity of tests, testing procedures and audits (Section 31)
- Confidential evaluations about the eligibility or suitability of a person for employment or an award (Section 32)
- Information that is already or will soon be available to the public (Section 33)
If any records relating to a request for information are being withheld, the public body is required to identify the
reason(s)
and inform the applicant of the right to have the decision reviewed by the Access to Information and
Privacy Commissioner or the Court.
For more information on the review process, please go to the Review Process section of this website
|
