Attorney General Edward T. Buckingham says his office has prepared a draft bill that will amend the Open Government Act.
The draft bill wants to find a balance between the protection of an individuals privacy and the public interest.
The proposal clearly defines an individuals œpersonal information as opposed to œpublic record.
It also seeks œminimal involvement of the court œin order to preserve scarce public resources.
The proposal will also increase from 10 to 15 days the deadline for complying with an Open Government Act request.
Buckingham, in an interview on Friday, said there is a need and desire for the public to be well-informed about the activities of the government, but, on the other hand, œcertain information needs to be withheld from public view.
Buckingham said since the government is facing severe financial limits, its employees time available for public service is very limited.
Former Rep. Tina Sablan, an Open Government Act advocate who successfully campaigned for an end to the Legislatures exemption from the law, said she was troubled by the administrations desire to œfine tune it.
She said amendments to the law have usually meant weakening it, so as to make it harder for the citizens to access public records and public meetings.
Transparency in government, she added, is a basic tenet in any democracy.
œAs citizens, it is so vital for the CNMI people to be vigilant and ready to challenge any attempts to weaken their rights to be informed and be able to hold the government accountable for the decisions it makes, she said.
Getting information from the government, Sablan noted, is hard.
œRequests for information are routinely ignored. Responses are often delayed, over-redacted, or incomplete. Sometimes agencies try to overcharge for copies, she said.
Sablan recently made several Open Government Act requests for the disclosure of the governments expenditures on private lawyers.
Buckingham said whether a change is necessary or not is a policy question that will be answered by the Legislature.
Both houses of the Legislature recently vowed to œwork together with the administration.
The draft bill said œthe purpose of the proposed amendments is to ensure government operations are not unduly burdened by vexatious requests and are not unduly disrupted.
The draft bill defines œidentifiable records as œrecordsidentified by a reasonable description which must enable the relevant government employees to locate the requested records with reasonable effort.
The custodian of the records, the draft bill stated, œshall make them promptly available to any person, provided that to the extent required to prevent an invasion of personal privacy interests an agency shall delete identifying personal information.
The justification for the deletion œshall be clarified fully in writing.
The Fitial administration earlier said the Open Government Act should be œprotected from the possible abuse of those who have made Open Government Act requests a leisure activity.
But Sablan said the law is not being abused.
œIt was designed to be used as a tool to help citizens become informed and involved in the processes of government. Citizens asking for information to which they are entitled are not committing any ˜abuse, she added.
œThe government that is abusive with public funds and public trust is the one most threatened by the efforts of citizens to obtain information, Sablan said.
Instead of trying to weaken the Open Government Act, Sablan said, œwe should be looking for ways to strengthen it.
She likes the thought of holding public officials personally liable for failures to comply with the law, especially if these are œknowing and willful failures to comply.
Article source: http://www.mvariety.com/2011013033860/local-news/ag-prepares-draft-bill-to-amend-open-government-act.php
No Tag
Halo Sobat, Nama Saya Sofyan Syah, Memulai Dunia Blogging Sejak Nov 2011, Meskipun Masih Baru terjun di Dunia Blogging, Saya tidak patah semangat Untuk menjadi Yang terbaik dari yang Terbaik, karena saya yakin, Tidak ada hal yang tidak Mungkin.Buat saya Blogging Is My Life.Senang rasanya jika sobat sudah Berkunjung di blog ini.
Komentar :
Post a Comment