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We have a right to information

Dimithri Wijesinghe

The Right to Information Act (RTI) was first introduced in 2016 and came into effect on 3 February 2017. Enacted after decades of failed initiatives to promote the right to information, Sri Lanka is now celebrating five years since the Act came into effect and citizens were formally granted the right to information and the means to seek it out. 

In theory, the Act allows Sri Lankans to scrutinise their government, facilitate effective participation in decision-making, and exercise active citizenship beyond elections. For a while, the Act was in fact utilised for the public to communicate with the government. However, since the pandemic, it would appear that awareness and interest in obtaining information via the Act has weaned off. 

Speaking to Attorney-at-Law and former RTI Commission researcher Mathurabhasini Thamilmaran, Brunch learned that the novelty of the Act has somewhat worn off and while the significance of the Act remains, the public must be reminded of the change that can be affected by engaging with the Act. “The right to information has helped the public in many ways: to obtain services, to enforce their rights, etc.,” Thamilmaran said, adding: “The proper use of the Act by the ordinary public as well as journalists has created an informed citizenry in Sri Lanka. While its novelty might be fading off now, it is still an important armour a citizen has and continued creative application of the right will benefit all. For that, the right should be promoted through the creation of more awareness and the Act should be properly enforced. This is true especially regarding the provisions on proactive disclosure.”

The law itself

The Sri Lankan regime on right to information comprises of the relevant Constitutional Provision, i.e. Article 14A as per the 19th Amendment, and the Right to Information Act No. 12 of 2016. 

The right provides that public authorities are answerable to the citizens of the country, and the Act provides what constitutes a public authority. It includes those which are constitutional and statutory entities, government departments and bodies, corporate bodies in which the government has a controlling interest, local and provincial authorities as well as courts, tribunals, and institutions established to administer justice.

This also includes private entities working under contract, agreement, licence, or a partnership with the government (where their statutory or public service function is concerned) and higher educational, private vocational, or technical education institutions established, recognised, or licensed under any written law or funded wholly or partly by the State and non–governmental organisations rendering a service to the public. 

Requesting information 

When you make a request for information, the information officer – a designated officer for the purposes of dissemination of information – is your first point of contact in a public authority. 

As per the Act, the information officer must provide all possible assistance to the person making the request. This request can be made via the RTI 01 form which can be acquired online on the TRI Commission website (https://www.rti.gov.lk/). However, this form is not compulsory and any written request that contains the facts in the form will suffice.

The officer is also required to take down the request in written form if it is made orally, maintain records of the information requests, and obtain the assistance of any other officer in order to respond properly to the information request.

In case of a public authority not having appointed an information officer, as per Section 23 of the Act the head or CEO of said public authority is automatically deemed to be the information officer.

It is important to note here that this is an exercise of one’s rights, and therefore, you are not required under the Act to disclose your reasons for making a request for information. 

What happens after, and can you appeal? 

Once you have submitted your request to the Information Office, the officer should acknowledge your request as soon as possible, and if the information required can be provided immediately, it should be duly provided. In instances where the request concerns the life and personal liberty of a citizen, then such requests should be responded to within 48 hours.

With other requests (requests not related to life and personal liberty), the information officer should inform you within 14 working days if the public authority will provide you with the information you requested and indicate the amount to be paid to obtain the information in the manner you requested; this is if you require a number of documents, photocopies etc. 

On the occasion where you are denied your request, the RTI Act provides a strict appeal procedure in which the RTI Commission is the second appellate body. You must first make an appeal to the designated information officer; this step is compulsory before approaching the Commission. The law then gives the power to the Commission to act against the decisions of the designated information officer in appeal.

Exceptions prevail 

While any and all information is fair game, there is an exhaustive list of questions provided under Section 5 of the Act that cannot be asked. 

These include: 

There is however an exemption provided, a “public interest override” as we see in S5 (4) stating that “…when the public interest in disclosing the information is greater than in refusing to provide the information, the information should be provided”.

Sri Lanka Press Institute 

Despite all the aforementioned guidelines, if you are still apprehensive and are unsure of how to make an application requesting information, the Sri Lanka Press Institute (SLPI) has set up a dedicated hotline free of charge to assist you in making these requests. 

SLPI RTI Coordinator Thisarani Siriwardana shared that they have two hotlines available; one for the general public, which will guide them in making an application to a designated information officer; and the other which is a help desk for the press – for journalists seeking to make information requests. The SLPI offers to make the application on your behalf if you yourself are unable to do so. 

Siriwardana shared that there have been numerous success stories where people have effected real-life changes as a result of RTI requests, recounting an occasion where a scholarship student was uncertain of their failed grade and the SLPI was able to make an application to the Ministry of Education, from where they were granted access to the student’s examination paper and were able to effectively appeal and get the correct pass mark. 

Siriwardana did note however, that a downside to RTI is the time it takes to receive information: “It takes quite a long time, and so it is important to keep trying without giving up,” she said. She further noted: “It may at times even take five to six months. However, it is necessary that we are persistent because this is what holds these authorities accountable.”

Siriwardana noted that there have even been instances where citizens have sent in RTI applications about road construction, and before they received the response from the information officer, the issue would soon get resolved, following which the information request would be satisfied and they would respond in kind. “These are clear examples of the process working and if we are to keep questioning the authorities and exercising our right to this information, we can effect great change,” she recounted. 

She shared that the RTI Act had been used quite frequently since its implementation. However, since the pandemic, the past few years have seen a steady decline in the use of this service. Siriwardana shared that information officers often make the excuse of Covid restrictions and working from home to delay information. However, since we are soon adapting to the new normal, she shared that we must now encourage the public to exercise their right to information.