The Selangor state assembly April 1 passed a freedom of information bill, the first state government in Malaysia to do so.
The Center for Independent Journalism Malaysia, which leads the FOI Task Force of the Coalition for Good Governance, hailed an “historic step” while also noting that the final product was improved from the first version tabled in July 2010.
See unofficial text of bill in Malay — first column is proposed language, second column contains amendments, and third column shows the rationale.
In a statement, the Center also said, “It is high time the Federal Government follow suit to show its commitment to combat corruption and promote good governance.”
State executive councilor Elizabeth Wong, was quoted as saying: “No other states have dared to implement the Freedom of Information Enactment. This is a product of the people’s power.” Reports are passage can be seen in The Sun Daily and The Star.
The bill covers information held by departments, local councils and entities fully owned and under full control of the Selangor state government.
The Center for Independent Journalism said improvements included:
- Acknowledgment of the right to information, rather than an opportunity given by the state
- An obligation to reveal information
- Possibility of review by the courts
- A more independent State Information Board (to replace the Appeals Board)
- A narrower list of exemptions, with a public interest override
- Protection from prosecution, sanctions, suit etc for Information Officers or government officers who disclose information in good faith
- 20-year time limit for keeping information confidential.
On the other hand, CIJ reported there are “some glaring problems” which will prevent ordinary citizens “from enjoying the full benefits of a FOI law.” The organization reported:
- A FOI law should entrench the right to information, whereas the preamble to this Enactment qualifies it as reasonable access to information – unnecessarily so, since there are exemptions provided by the law.
- The law does not mandate the periodic publication of information. Known as the principle of proactive disclosure, this provision would help to reduce the administrative burden on the Information Officers, and increase transparency across all public bodies.
- Lack of details re the appointment to the State Information Board (Section 17(2)). This must be an open and transparent process where the public can nominate candidates and the shortlist is published. This will strengthen the independence of the Board, which is an important feature for its success as adjudicator and monitor for the application of this law.
- Section 18(1) which is about protecting the sanctity of information should not penalise the applicants for using the information in a different way from the reasons stated in the application.
- While it is reasonable to charge for application fees, Section 6(3) merely states that the fee will be decided upon by the state authorities. A good FOI law must stipulate that the fees be kept low. Otherwise, it can be an administrative obstacle which denies the public affordable access to their right to information.
Wong said implementation will be the real challenge, according to The Sun Daily. “Once it (the bill) has been gazetted, we have six months to make sure the system is in place. She said the state information board that will be tasked with appeals and monitoring of the legislation’s implementation will be comprised of former lawyers or judges, and independent members who don’t belong to any political parties.
Wong concurred that some of the amendments were substantial, the newspaper’s account said, including the substitution of the term “opportunity” to “right” for the people to access information. She noted that the bill allows for penalties for people who use the information for purposes other than that which is applied for, but that there must be proof of ill-intent.
She said efforts to improve the new law may come in 6-7 months.
The bill and amendments were approved without objection from the opposition party Barisan Nasional (BN) representatives who had earlier called the bill unconstitutional and did not participate in a drafting committee.
Selangor is one of the country’s wealthiest and most populous states. FOI legislation also is pending in Penang. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
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