Bermuda’s Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez has expressed concerns about a controversial government plan to introduce fees for requests under public access to information (PATI) legislation introduced in the island eight years ago.
Gutierrez said that of 136 jurisdictions with PATI-style legislation, only a handful required applicants to pay a fee.
“Yes, there is a nominal fee in 14 jurisdictions,” she said. “That doesn’t mean it’s right for Bermuda when we have the highest cost of living in the world.
“It doesn’t fulfill the purposes of the PATI Act to make people jump through one more hoop.”
Gutierrez told the Royal Gazette newspaper that some of the jurisdictions that did have a fee also had documents more easily accessible, meaning there was less of a need to make PATI requests.
She noted that some PATI requests had already led to increased accessibility in Bermuda, including lists of restaurant health ratings and licensed childcare providers.
“The part that concerns me the most is that creating a fee – even if it’s a nominal fee – is going to create a practical barrier that very well may take this right away from a lot of Bermudians and residents,” she said.
Gitanjali Gutierrez noted the high cost of living on the island, stating that the additional fee would create another burden on those who want to exercise their rights.
She also voiced concerns about the impact that the change would have on privacy.
Gutierrez said she hoped the issue would be the subject of public consultation so the voices of the community were considered before the fees were implemented.
“This is a public right and certainly in other jurisdictions if you are going to lessen or change a right to public information, those are the kinds of things that usually go out to public consultation,” she said.
Gitanjali Gutierrez was supported by the head of a global human rights organization, who said Bermuda’s citizens should not have to pay to request publicly held records.
Toby Mendel, executive director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, told the Gazette that the government’s plan to bring in a public access to information fee was “punitive” and aimed at discouraging requests.
Mendel, a lawyer, and expert on freedom of information legislation said: “As a matter of principle, one should not have to pay to exercise a human right.
“Furthermore, it will cost the government more to collect the fee than it costs, so it does not make any sense financially.
“Basically, these are punitive measures to try to deter requests. As such, we are strongly opposed to them.”
The Public Access to Information (PATI) Act 2010 went into effect on April 1, 2015, during the former One Bermuda Alliance administration’s one term in office.
PATI had taken a long time to get off the ground in Bermuda with then Progressive Labour Party (PLP) Premier Alex Scott promising in 2003 that his administration would launch it soon. The PLP returned to power in 2017.
Premier and Minister of Finance David Burt said in this year’s Budget statement that the government would launch a “nominal” fee for PATI requests – although the fee would not be applied to private individuals who seek information about the data the government holds on them.
He said that a government authority spent more than $300,000 to respond to a single PATI request, although there were no details about the request or why it cost so much.
Tourism and Cabinet Office Minister Vance Campbell said this week that the government expects to raise US$50,000 by introducing PATI fees in the coming fiscal year.
Campbell revealed the figure as part of his Budget brief on the Cabinet Office departments in the House of Assembly on Monday but did not reveal how much the new fee would be.
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