General FAQ's
The Access to Information Unit does not receive and respond to ATI requests from members of the public. The Unit was set up under the ATI Act in 2002 to monitor implementation and compliance with the ATI law, and is also responsible for training ATI responsible officers and the wider public sector on the provisions of the Act while carrying out public education to inform the wider population about the law’s importance and benefits. The ATI Unit also provides administration services to the ATI Appeal Tribunal.
Each government body should employ an access to information (ATI) Responsible Officer who receives, follows up, responds to and generally handle requests from members of the public.
No. There are some documents that are exempt or not open for public viewing. These documents are out of bounds to protect national or personal interest.
These documents relate to:
Bodies which fall under the Act include ministries, departments and executive agencies, and agencies of government, statutory bodies or authorities, parish councils and any government company that is wholly owned by the Government or in which Government holds more than 50 per cent shares or any other body or organisation which the Minister may specify.
The Act excludes the Office of the Governor General, the judicial functions of the Court and the intelligence-gathering activities of the Security and Intelligence Services.
These are documents or other informational material in the possession of any government ministry, department or agency that are related to their work.
A member of the public has three basic rights under the ATI Act:
- To see and access non-exempt material held by public authorities;
- To ask for information concerning him or her to be changed if it is incomplete, dated, incorrect or misleading;
- Appeal against a decision not to grant access to a document or amend or annotate a personal record.
The ATI Act gives members of the public the ability to participate in democracy and help protect their rights and that of fellow citizens. The ATI Law balances the right of the public to access government information, with the need to protect national and individuals’ personal interests.
The Access to Information Act is a Jamaican law that was passed by Parliament in 2002 and started operating in Jamaica in 2004. This law gives members of the public the right to access official documents that government bodies have in their possession and which relate to the work they do.
Many other countries around the world have this law in place. However, some countries call it the Freedom of Information Act.
