Section 12 — Access to Information Act: Access to record

A person who is given access to a record or a part thereof under this Part shall, subject to the regulations, be given an opportunity to examine the record or part thereof or be given a copy thereof. Where access to a record or a part thereof is to be given under this Part and the person to whom access is to be given requests that access be given in a particular official language, a copy of the record or part thereof shall be given to the person in that language forthwith, if the record or part thereof already exists under the control of a government institution in that language; or within a reasonable period of time, if the head of the government institution that has control of the record considers it to be in the public interest to cause a translation to be prepared. Where access to a record or a part thereof is to be given under this Part and the person to whom access is to be given has a sensory disability and requests that access be given in an alternative format, a copy of the record or part thereof shall be given to the person in an alternative format forthwith, if the record or part thereof already exists under the control of a government institution in an alternative format that is acceptable to that person; or within a reasonable period of time, if the head of the government institution that has control of the record considers the giving of access in an alternative format to be necessary to enable the person to exercise the person’s right of access under this Part and considers it reasonable to cause that record or part thereof to be converted.