Section 37 — Access to Information Act: Information Commissioner’s initial report to government institution

If, on investigating a complaint under this Part, the Information Commissioner finds that the complaint is well-founded, the Commissioner shall provide the head of the government institution concerned with a report that sets out the findings of the investigation and any recommendations that the Commissioner considers appropriate; any order that the Commissioner intends to make; and the period within which the head of the government institution shall give notice to the Commissioner of the action taken or proposed to be taken to implement the order or recommendations set out in the report or reasons why no such action has been or is proposed to be taken. The Information Commissioner shall, after investigating a complaint under this Part, provide a report that sets out the results of the investigation and any order or recommendations that he or she makes to the complainant; the head of the government institution; any third party that was entitled under paragraph 35(2)(c) to make and that made representations to the Commissioner in respect of the complaint; and the Privacy Commissioner, if he or she was entitled under paragraph 35(2)(d) to make representations and he or she made representations to the Commissioner in respect of the complaint. However, no report is to be made under this subsection and no order is to be made until the expiry of the time within which the notice referred to in paragraph (1)(c) is to be given to the Information Commissioner. The Information Commissioner may include in the report referred to in subsection (2) any comments on the matter that he or she thinks fit and shall include in that report a summary of any notice that he or she receives under paragraph (1)(c); a statement that any person to whom the report is provided has the right to apply for a review under section 41, within the period specified for exercising that right, and that the person must comply with section 43 if they exercise that right; a statement that if no person applies for a review within the period specified for doing so, any order set out in the report takes effect in accordance with subsection 36.1(4); and a statement, if applicable, that the Information Commissioner will provide a third party or the Privacy Commissioner with the report. The Information Commissioner may publish the report referred to in subsection (2). However, the Information Commissioner is not to publish the report until the expiry of the periods to apply to the Court for a review of a matter that are referred to in section 41. If the head of a government institution gives notice to the Information Commissioner under paragraph (1)(c) that access to a record or a part of a record will be given to a complainant, the head of the institution shall give the complainant access to the record or the part of the record on receiving the report under subsection (2) or within any period specified in the Commissioner’s order, if only the complainant and the head of the institution are provided with the report; or on the expiry of the 40th business day after the day on which the head of the government institution receives the report under subsection (2) or within any period specified in the Commissioner’s order that begins on the expiry of that 40th business day, if a third party or the Privacy Commissioner are also provided with the report, unless a review is applied for under section 41. For the purposes of this section, the head of the government institution is deemed to have received the report referred to in subsection (2) on the fifth business day after the date of the report.