Canadian Lawyer InHouse

April 2015 14 INHOUSE Q U I Z ANSWERS YOUR RANKING? ■ one correct: might be time to brush up ■ Two correct: not bad, but some further work needed ■ Three correct: very well done, but not perfect ■ four correct: perfect 1 (c) It depends. the head of the institution to which the request is made shall within 30 days after the request is received (a) give written notice to the person who made the request as to whether or not access to the record or a part thereof will be given; and (b) if access is to be given, give the person who made the request access to the record or part thereof, and where necessary for the purpose cause the record to be produced. however, the 30-day time limit is subject to certain exceptions set out in the act, including extensions, referrals to other institutions, and the requirement to pay fees. If the institution chooses not to avail itself of the exceptions, then it must deliver written notice by the following Monday, as the 30th day falls on the weekend. 2 (c) an institution has 15 days to determine whether it has the record the requester is seeking and, if not, to make reasonable inquiries to determine whether another institution has custody or control of the record. If the head determines that another institution has custody, the head shall within 15 days after the request is received (a) forward the request to the other institution; and (b) give written notice to the person who made the request that it has been forwarded to the other institution. In Order PO-2479, the information and privacy commissioner held that an institution's responsibility to forward the request to another institution is not waived even when the requester had already submitted the same request to that other institution. 3 (B) an institution may extend the 30-day time limit for a period of time that is reasonable in the circumstances where (a) the request is for a large number of records or necessitates a search through a large number of records and meeting the time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the institution; or (b) consultations with a person outside the institution are necessary to comply with the request and cannot reasonably be contemplated within the time limit. the institution must be cognizant of its obligation under the legislation to provide access to records in a timely fashion and be prepared to justify an extension of time as reasonable in the circumstances. the extension must be proportionate to the circumstances. Circumstances to consider include, but are not limited to, whether the request is similar to requests received in the past, whether the searches for responsive records have already been completed, the extent of work and time required to review and/or prepare the records for disclosure, challenges faced by the institution's staff with respect to the volume of requests received, and available hours to devote to access requests. 4 (B) a fee estimate has the effect of suspending the 30-day time limit to give written notice of the institution's decision. If the requester appeals the issue of fees, the time limit continues to be suspended until the appeal is resolved, either by an order of the privacy commissioner or by mediated settlement between the parties. the day after the fee estimate is resolved is when the 30-day time limit continues to expire. a head shall require a requester to pay fees in the amounts prescribed by the regulations for: (a) the costs of every hour of manual search required to locate a record; (b) the costs of preparing the record for disclosure; (c) computer and other costs incurred in locating, retrieving, processing, and copying a record; (d) shipping costs; and (e) any other costs incurred in responding to a request for access to a record. A DAILY BLOG OF CANADIAN LEGAL NEWS LEGALFEEDS.CA FEEDS LEGAL POWERED BY V O T E D BEST NEWS BLOG CLAWBIES 2015 Untitled-1 1 2015-02-12 2:44 PM

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