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 Finance.
Freedom of
Information Act (English Version)
Freedom of Information Act
(Maltese Version)
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.nso@gov.mt or
through the FOI portal www.foi.gov.mt via the e-ID or through the online form.
The Malta Statistics Authority – National
Statistics Office
The National Statistics Office (NSO) is the
executive arm of the Malta Statistics Authority as established by the Malta
Statistics Authority Act, Cap. 422 of the Laws of Malta. The NSO is headed by the Director General and
is made up of four directorates: Economic and Business Statistics, Social and
Regional Statistics, Data Capability and Corporate Services. The first
two directorates are directly responsible for statistical subject-matter
domains. The Data Capability directorate is tasked with assisting domain
units in data management and methodological issues whilst helping the office
reach a higher degree of efficiency in terms of processes and IT
infrastructure. The Corporate Services directorate provides lateral
support to all units for matters related to human resources, finances and risk
compliance. Other horizontal functions
are Dissemination and Communications, Legal, Institutional, and International
affairs.
General description of the
categories of documents held:
·
Agreements
with external suppliers for the provision of works and services;
·
Documents related to recruitment process;
·
NSO policies;
·
IT
specifications and related documents;
·
List
of EU Regulations and Directives used in the statistical compilations of the
office;
·
Questionnaire
templates used for the collection of statistical information;
·
Manuals
of procedures and technical reports
(including but not limited to quality and metadata reports);
·
Methodological manuals and classifications;
·
Descriptive documents of business processes;
·
Reports
of meetings attended abroad;
·
Applications
submitted by third parties (including local and foreign researchers) requesting
access to various forms of statistical data;
·
Descriptive documents of business processes.
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
NSO, 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 NSO 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 NSO 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 NSO.
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 NSO, 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 NSO
On receipt of the application form, NSO 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 NSO 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.
NSO will also verify whether the requested
document / information is held at its end. If this is not the case NSO 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, NSO 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, NSO shall consider whether any of the exemptions listed in the FOI Act
apply. NSO 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, NSO
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.
The application of fees is regulated by L.N. 158 of 2010.
Remedial Action
If the applicant is not satisfied with the
response provided by NSO vis-à-vis its request, the applicant is entitled to
submit a complaint to NSO. 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. The FOI Act, list the following as reasons
for complaints:
·
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 NSO 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 NSO 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 NSO. 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.
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, National Statistics Office, Lascaris, Valletta, VLT
2000.