Section 6.1 — Access to Information Act: Reasons for declining to act on request

With the Information Commissioner’s written approval, the head of a government institution may, before giving a person access to a record or refusing to do so, decline to act on the person’s request if, in the opinion of the head of the institution, the request is vexatious, is made in bad faith or is otherwise an abuse of the right to make a request for access to records. The head of a government institution is not authorized under subsection (1) to decline to act on a person’s request for a record for the sole reason that the information contained in it has been published under Part 2. If the head of a government institution communicates with the Information Commissioner to obtain his or her approval to decline to act, the 30-day period set out in section 7 — and any extension to it under section 9 —

is suspended during the period beginning on the day on which the head of the institution communicates with the Information Commissioner and ending on the day on which he or she receives the Information Commissioner’s decision in writing. The head of the institution shall give written notice to the person who made the request for access to a record under this Part of the suspension of the period, and of the reasons for the suspension, at the same time as they communicate with the Information Commissioner to obtain his or her approval to decline to act. If the Information Commissioner refuses to give his or her approval, the head of the institution shall, on receiving the Information Commissioner’s decision in writing, give written notice to the person who made the request for access to a record under this Part of the refusal and of the date on which the running of the period resumes in accordance with subsection (1.2). If the head of a government institution declines to act on the person’s request, they shall give the person written notice of their decision to decline to act on the request and their reasons for doing so.