ACT No. XI of 2020 AN ACT to amend the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Act, BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

I assent.

(L.S.)

GEORGE VELLA

President

27th March, 2020

ACT No. XI of 2020

AN ACT to amend the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Act,

BE IT ENACTED by the President, by and with the advice and

consent of the House of Representatives, in this present Parliament

assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows:-

The short title of this Act is the Re-Use of Public Sector

Information (Amendment) Act, 2020, and this Act shall be read and

construed as one with the Re-Use of Public Sector Information Act,

hereinafter referred to as "the principal Act".

Immediately after sub-article (2) of article 1 of the

principal Act there shall be added the following new sub-article

"(3) This Act shall also apply to facilitate information

sharing for public administration purposes in line with any

law.".

Article 2 of the principal Act shall be amended as follows

(a)

immediately after the definition "machine-readable

format" there shall be added the following new definition

" "Minister" means the Minister responsible for

public sector information;";

(b) the definition "re-use of documents" shall be

substituted by the following

" "re-use of documents" means the use by a person,

public sector body, or legal entity of a document held by

the public sector body or another public sector body, as the

case may be, for commercial or non-commercial purposes,

other than the initial purpose within that public sector

body’s public task for which the document was

produced;"; and

(c)

immediately after the definition "re-use of

documents", as substituted, there shall be added the following

new definition

" "tribunal" means the Information and

Data Protection Appeals Tribunal established

under article 24 of the Data Protection Act;".

In paragraph (i) of article 3 of the principal Act, for the Amendment of

words "museums and archives." there shall be substituted the words article

principal Act.

"museums and archives:", and immediately thereafter there shall be

added the following new proviso

"Provided that the provisions of this article shall not apply

to the re-use of documents, by a public sector body, of a

document held by another public sector body.".

Article 24 of the principal Act shall be substituted by the Substitution of

article 24 of the

following

principal Act.

" Application

(1) Any applicant may apply to the

for decision by

regulatory authority for a decision where it is

the regulatory

claimed that

authority.

(a)

a request for re-use of public

sector information made by the applicant to a

public sector body has been refused or has

not been dealt with in accordance with the

requirements of this Act; or

(b) a public sector body is not in

compliance with the requirements set out in

this Act.

(2) (a)

The application shall be in

writing and the applicant shall provide all

necessary documentation and evidence in support

of his claims.

(b) Complaints or requests for

investigation and review addressed to the

regulatory authority in terms of this Act shall be

lodged by the applicant within a maximum of sixty

(60) days from the date of receipt of the final

communication from the public sector body

concerned.

(3) On receiving an application for a

decision under this article, the regulatory authority

shall take a decision unless it appears that -

(a)

there has been undue delay in

making the application; or

(b) the application is frivolous or

vexatious; or

(c)

the

application

has

been

withdrawn or abandoned.

(4) Where the regulatory authority has

received an application under this article, it shall

serve notice of its decision to the applicant and the

public sector body.

(5) The decision shall contain particulars of

the right of appeal as provided in article 24B.

(6) Where a decision requires steps to be

taken by the public sector body within a specified

period, the time specified in the decision shall not

expire before the end of the period within which

an appeal can be brought against the decision and,

if such an appeal is brought, no step which is

affected by the appeal need be taken pending the

determination or withdrawal of the appeal.".

6. Immediately after article 24, as substituted, of the principal

Act there shall be added the following new articles

" Enforcement

(1) If the regulatory authority is

notices.

satisfied that a public sector body has failed to

comply with any of its obligations under this Act,

the regulatory authority may serve the public

sector body with an enforcement notice

requiring it to take, within such a time as may be

specified in the notice, such steps as may be so

specified for complying with those obligations.

(2) An enforcement notice shall contain a

statement of the requirement or requirements of

this Act with which the public sector body has, in

the regulatory authority’s opinion, failed to

comply, and its reasons for reaching that

conclusion.

(3) The regulatory authority may cancel an

enforcement notice by written notice to the public

sector body on which it was served.

(1) Where a decision or enforcement

Appeals

against

notice has been served, the applicant or the public

decisions and

enforcement

sector body may appeal to the tribunal against the

notices served

decision or the notice, as the case may be, within

by the

regulatory

twenty (20) working days.

authority.

(2) In determining an appeal the tribunal

may

(a)

dismiss the appeal and confirm

the decision or the enforcement notice, as the

case may be, in their entirety;

(b) substitute the decision or the

enforcement notice, as the case may be;

(c)

modify or vary the decision or

the enforcement notice, as the case may be;

or

(d) annul the decision or the

enforcement notice, as the case may be.

(3) Where the tribunal substitutes a

decision or enforcement notice as aforesaid, the

regulatory authority shall take action to secure

compliance as if that decision or enforcement

notice had been issued by the regulatory authority.

(4) In hearing appeals under this article the

tribunal shall remain subject to the provisions of

article 27(2), (4) and (5) and article 28(2) of the

Data Protection Act.

(1) Decisions of the tribunal under

Appeal to the

Court of

this Act shall be subject to appeal to the Court of

Appeal.

Appeal as provided for by article 29 of the Data

Protection Act.

(2) In the application of this article,

references, in the said article 29 of the Data

Protection Act, to "the Commissioner" shall be

construed and read as references to "the regulatory

authority" referred to in article 24 of this Act.".

Article 25 of the principal Act shall be amended as

7. (a)

for the words "The Minister responsible for public

sector information" there shall be substituted the words "The

Minister";

(b) in paragraph (d) thereof, for the words "for the

purposes of this Act; and" there shall be substituted the words

"for the purposes of this Act;";

(c)

paragraph (e) thereof shall be re-numbered as

paragraph (f); and

(d) immediately after paragraph (d) thereof there shall

be added the following new paragraph

"(e) to facilitate the sharing and re-use of

information between public sector bodies, through new

organisational structures and registers, in order to enable

the implementation of the ‘Once-Only Principle’; and".

Passed by the House of Representatives at Sitting No. 313 of the

23rd March, 2020.

ANĠLU FARRUGIA

Speaker

RAYMOND SCICLUNA

Clerk of the House of Representatives

€0.54