Eligible persons are entitled to
submit Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to all established Public
Authorities, including those listed under the Ministry for
the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change. The requests
have to be in written format on prescribed forms and have to be delivered to an
office of the Public Authority, either electronically - by email or through
the FOI Portal - or
manually (by hand or by post).
Freedom of Information Act (Maltese Version)
Freedom of Information Act (English Version)
Submitting a Request / Complain
Eligible Persons:
In order to be eligible to submit FOI
requests, a person has to be a resident in Malta and to have been so for a
period of at least five years. Such person has to be also either a citizen of
Malta or a citizen of any other member state of the European Union or a citizen
of any other state the citizens of which have a right, in virtue of any treaty
between such state and the European Union, to be treated in Malta in the same
manner as citizens of member states of the European Union.
FOI request / complaint can be submitted via the e-ID on the FOI Portal (www.foi.gov.mt). An online request can also be done for both the FOI request and FOI complaint without the need for the applicants to register through e-ID.
Alternatively the FOI request form or Complaint form can be submitted by email to foi-ps.msdec@gov.mt or by post to the Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, MSDEC Offices, 6 Triq Hal Qormi, Santa Venera SVR 1301.
Obtaining a copy of the Forms
Application Forms (and Complaints Forms) are available for download from
this website or from the Freedom of
Information website.
Request Form (Maltese Version)
Request Form (English Version)
Information to be Provided
When filling in the application form
applicants will be required, apart from providing contact details, to give an
indication of the document/information that they wish to obtain. They will also
need to indicate the format in which they wish to receive such
document/information, namely as a hard copy/print-out, as an electronic copy,
in the form of a summary/excerpt of contents or by on-site inspection of the
document / information in question. Copies of the ID card or passport
and/or additional documentation, as deemed necessary could be requested by the
Public Authority, in the case of requests relating specifically to the
individual, individual's assets/interests/right of access.
Types of Requests
In essence, one may ask for any
article that is held by a public authority and on which information has been
recorded in whatever form, including electronic data, images, scale models and
other visual representations, and audio or video recordings, regardless of
whether the information can be read, seen, heard or retrieved with or without
the aid of any other article or device. One may also ask for documentation
which contains policies, principles, rules or guidelines in accordance with
which decisions or recommendations are made in respect of members of the public
(including bodies corporate and employees of the public authority in their
personal capacity). Furthermore eligible persons have the right to request
information (in the form of a written statement) on a decision or
recommendation made in their respect or in respect of a body corporate which
they represent.
Acknowledgements
FOI requests will be duly
acknowledged by the Public Authorities. The acknowledgement forms will include
a unique reference number and an indication of the date by when the response
will be given. The forms shall also include specific information related to the
Public Authority, such as its address, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses,
opening hours and also details of its internal complaints procedure.
Checks to be carried out by the Public Authority
On receipt of the application form,
the Public Authority will verify whether the request qualifies as an FOI
request and will inform the applicant accordingly if this is not the case. If
it transpires that additional information/documentation is required, applicants
will be contacted by the Public Authority to whom the request has been
submitted and they will be provided with all possible assistance in order to
ensure that such request complies with the provisions of the Act. This
notwithstanding, when submitting an FOI request, applicants are not required to
provide any justifications for requesting any particular documentation /
information.
The Public Authority will also verify
whether the requested document / information is held at its end. If this is not
the case such Public Authority will seek to identify the proper entity to whom
the request should be submitted and will transfer such application accordingly
(informing the applicant in the process). If no alternative entity is
identified (meaning that the document/information cannot be traced at any Public
Authority) the applicant will be informed accordingly.
Processing of request
Once it establishes that a request is
an FOI request and can be addressed from its end, the Public Authority will
determine whether it can provide the applicant with the document / information
requested (in full or in part) or whether it will refuse the request. Prior to
taking a decision in this regard, the Public Authority shall consider whether
any of the exemptions listed in the FOI Act apply. The Public Authority
will submit notification of whether the request will be accepted or not within
20 working days from its receipt. An additional 20 working days extension can be further applied, brining up the total to a maximum of 40 working days from the date of the receipt of the original request.
Payment of Fee
When submitting a response to the
Applicant, the Public Authority shall indicate whether any fees apply. If
applicable, such fees shall cover only the costs related to making a document
available to the applicant, namely man-hours of processing, costs of
photocopies/faxes and digital media and costs related to inspections.
Notwithstanding the above, the total applicable fee shall not exceed €40. No
additional fees can be incurred for submitting applications or complaints.
The application of fees is regulated by L.N. 158 of 2010.
Remedial Action
If the applicant is not satisfied
with the response provided by the Public Authority vis-à-vis its request, the
applicant is entitled to submit a complaint to the same Public Authority. If,
subsequently, the applicant remains unsatisfied with the response received, he/she
may lodge an appeal with the Information and Data Protection Commissioner
(IDPC). If the applicant remains dissatisfied with the outcome of the appeal
he/she may appeal to the Information and Data Protection Tribunal and,
subsequently, to the Court of Appeal. Complaints may be submitted for the
following reasons:
· If
the Request has not been deemed to be an FOI request
· The Public Authority
has applied an extension to the 20-working day deadline to notify the
applicant whether access would be given to the document / information requested
· The
Public Authority has imposed a fee which is deemed to be excessive
· The
document is not being provided in the requested format
· The
request is being refused
One may also submit a complaint if
the Public Authority does not respect the 20 working day deadline (or the
deadline indicated in the notification of extension, if applicable) for
submitting a response.
Complaint Form (Maltese Version)
Complaint Form (English Version)
Complaint Form to IDPC (Maltese Version)
Complaint Form to IDPC (English Version)
Receiving documentation / information
Whenever a Public Authority
communicates a decision to an Applicant that access to a document / information
will be granted, the applicant shall also be invited to effect payment of fees
(if applicable). Within 10 working days following payment, the Public Authority
will provide the document / information in the same format as the applicant had
originally requested or, if this is not possible, in any other format deemed
appropriate by the Public Authority. Applicants who submit requests through
the FOI Portal (www.foi.gov.mt) may be
provided with the possibility of downloading the document / information
directly from the site.
If no fee will be charged, the
document / information will be provided within 10 working days following
notification. The request shall be considered to have been abandoned by the
applicant if payment is not effected within 20 working days following notification.
Public Authorities under
the Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change:
Permanent Secretariat and Adminstration
Permanent Secretariat and Adminstration (Article 17)
Minister’s Secretariat
Minister’s Secretariat (Article 17)
Parliamentary Secretariat
Parliamentary Secretariat (Article 17)
Fisheries Control (FCD)
FCD (Article 17)
Veterinary and Phytosanitary Regulation (VPRD)
VPRD - Veterinary (Article 17)
VPRD - Plant Health (Article 17)
VPRD - Animal Welfare (Article 17)
Rural Development and Aquaculture (RDAD)
RDAD - Main Office (Article 17)
RDAD - Public Abattoir (Article 17)
RDAD - Rural Festivities Unit (Article 17)
RDAD - Pitkali Markets (Article 17)
RDAD - Pitkali Markets Ltd. (Article 17)
RDAD - Animal Welfare (Article 17)
Paying Agency
Paying Agency (Article 17)
WasteServ
WasteServ (Article 17)
PARCS
PARCS (Article 17)
Information provided according to Article 17 of the
Freedom of Information Act may be viewed by accessing the above links or by
contacting the Principal Freedom of Information Officer, Ministry for the Environment, Sustainable Development and Climate Change, MSDEC
Offices, 6 Triq Hal Qormi, Santa Venera SVR 1301, Tel: (+356) 2292 6271.
General
Information on FOI
FOI Website