A General Right of Access
The Freedom of Information Act is fully retrospective and gives a general right of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities, subject to the application of exemptions contained within the Act.
Under the Freedom of Information Act, a public authority must consider all requests for recorded information that it receives and must:
- Inform the applicant whether the information is held, and
- Supply the requested information, subject to the application of exemptions contained within the Act.
The Act gives any individual anywhere in the world the right to information held by the Police Service. This right of access applies regardless of the purpose of the application and it applies to:
- Information and not just documents
- Information held in any format
- Structured and unstructured information
- Records capable of recovery in any form
