Promotion of Access to Information Act

The Promotion of Access to Information Act (“PAIA”), No 2 of 2000 gives effect to the constitutional right of access to any information held by the State and any information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection of any rights. PAIA gives the requester a right to lodge a request from the information officer of a public or private body. PAIA requires all private and public bodies to prepare a PAIA manual.

Exemptions

There has been various exemptions for certain private companies to compile a manual. Please refer to the Government Gazettes:

• 30 December 2011: Exemption from 31 December 2011 to 31 December 2015
• 11 December 2015: Exemption from 1 January 2016 to 31 December 2020
• 18 December 2020: Exemption from 1 January 2021 to 39 June 2021
• 29 June 2021: The Minister of Justice has, published on 29 June 2021, further exempted certain private bodies from compiling the manual contemplated in section 51(1) of the first mentioned Act for a period of 6 months from 1 July 2021. This exemption states that private companies with less than 50 employees or with a turnover of less than the amounts stipulated in the Schedule in the Notice will be exempt from compiling the PAIA manual until 31 December 2021.

Please note that there is no need to submit the PAIA manuals to the Information Regulator, public and private bodies are required to upload their manual on their website and ensure that same is available at the relevant office/s for public inspection.