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The Right to Access Government Records

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act provides the right to any person to request access to records in a government institution. In this topic, you learn that the definition of record is very broad and that the Act does not apply to certain types of records.

The Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act gives any person the right to access records of Newfoundland and Labrador government institutions covered by the Act.

The Act sets out rules that govern how a person can request access and how the government institution must respond:

The ATIPP Act applies to records in any form including working papers, draft documents, finalized documents, memos, briefing notes, e-mails, electronic records, spread sheets, photographs, drawings, microfilm, etc.

The Act applies to all records in government, but certain records are excluded from application by section 5 of the Act. Examples of these exclusions are:

  • Personal or constituency records of Ministers or MHA’s;
  • Political party or caucus records;
  • Notes of an individual working in a judicial or quazi-judicial capacity;
  • Records relating to an ongoing prosecution
 
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