16

 

Second Session, 45th General Assembly

54 Elizabeth II, 2005

BILL 16

AN ACT RESPECTING THE MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION FOR THE PROVINCE

Received and Read the First Time

Second Reading

Committee

Third Reading

Royal Assent

HONOURABLE EDWARD J. BYRNE

Government House Leader

 

Ordered to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

 

 

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The purpose of this Bill is as stated in the long title.

 

A BILL

AN ACT RESPECTING THE MANAGEMENT OF GOVERNMENT INFORMATION FOR THE PROVINCE

Analysis

1. Short title

2. Definitions

3. Application

4. Crown property

5. Management of public records

6. System for management of information

7. Application

8. Offence

9. RSNL1990 cA-16 Rep.

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:


Short title

1. This Act may be cited as the Management of Information Act.

Definitions

2. In this Act

(a) "archives" means the Provincial Archives of Newfoundland and Labrador continued under section 21 of the Rooms Act;

(b) "department", unless the context indicates otherwise, means the department presided over by the minister;

(c) "minister", unless the context indicates otherwise, means the minister appointed under the Executive Council Act to be responsible for this Act; and

(d) "public body" means

(i) a department created under the Executive Council Act or a branch of the executive government of the province,

(ii) a corporation, the ownership of which, or a majority of shares of which, is vested in the Crown,

(iii) a corporation, commission, board or other body, the majority of the members of which, or the majority of members of the board of directors of which, are appointed under an Act of the province, the Lieutenant-Governor in Council or a minister of the Crown,

(iv) a court established under an Act of the province, and

(v) the House of Assembly and committees of the House of Assembly;

(e) "public record" means a record created by or received by a public body in the conduct of its affairs except a copy of a record created only for convenience of reference and surplus copies of electronically produced, mimeographed, multilithed, printed or processed circulars and memoranda;

(f) "record" means a correspondence, memorandum, form, paper, parchment, manuscript, map, plan, drawing, painting, print, photograph, magnetic tape, computer disc, microform, electronically produced document and other documentary material regardless of physical form or characteristic; and

(g) "record management" means a program of record and information management instituted to provide an economical and efficient system for the creation, maintenance, retrieval and disposal of public records.

Application

3. This Act applies to all public bodies in the province.

Crown property

4. (1) Public records are the property of the Crown.

(2) A public record shall not be destroyed or removed from the ownership or control of the Crown unless the destruction or removal is authorized under the Rooms Act.

Management of public records

5. (1) The minister shall

(a) be responsible for the development and implementation of a management program for public records in the province;

(b) provide advice to and assist public bodies with the development, implementation and maintenance of record management systems and provide direction on that material as it relates to the preservation of potential archival material; and

(c) recommend standards, principles or procedures to Treasury Board for adoption.

(2) The minister may, in the manner permissible by law, appoint and employ those persons necessary to carry out the purposes of this Act.

(3) A person appointed or employed under subsection (2) to be responsible for information and record management shall consult with the Director of the Provincial Archives appointed under section 22 of the Rooms Act to ensure the efficient implementation of information management policies and procedures for the preservation of archival public records.

System for management of information

6. (1) A permanent head of a public body shall develop, implement and maintain a record management system for the creation, classification, retention, storage, maintenance, retrieval, preservation, disposal and transfer of public records.

(2) A system required under subsection (1) shall provide for retention periods and disposition by

(a) destruction, or

(b) transfer to the archives,

in accordance with the guidelines and schedules established by the Public Records Committee established under the Rooms Act.

(3) A permanent head of a public body shall ensure that the retention, disposal and removal of public records is carried out in accordance with Part II of the Rooms Act.

Application

7. The minister may apply for an order under rule 27 of the Rules of the Supreme Court, 1986 for the recovery of public records to which a public body is entitled.

Offence

8. (1) A person who unlawfully damages, mutilates or destroys a public record or removes or withholds a public record from the possession of a public body or otherwise violates this Act is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a fine of not less than $1,000 and not more than $50,000 and in default of payment to imprisonment for a term of not less than 3 months and not more than 18 months or to both a fine and imprisonment.

(2) In addition to a penalty imposed under subsection (1) a judge may make an order that the record that is the subject of an offence be returned to the possession of the public body.

RSNL1990 cA-16 Rep.

9. The Archives Act is repealed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

©Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer