Bill: Draft Accountability for Transparency Act

[Capt11543]

A
BILL
TO
Provide a private right of action to enforce government transparency laws
​

1 - About This Act
(1) This Act-

(a) may be cited as the Accountability for Transparency Act.​

(b) may be numbered P.B. 04-### (to be assigned by the Office of the Speaker)​

(c) shall be enacted immediately upon being assented by His Majesty the King.​

(d) has been authored by MP Capt11543.​

(e) has been co-sponsored by <co-sponsor>.​

2 - Amendments to the Freedom of Information Act
(1) The following new section shall be inserted after §11 - Discovery Materials in Ongoing Court Cases, and all subsequent sections shall be renumbered appropriately:

"12 - Right of Action to Enforce Transparency
(1) When the government fails to publish information as required by law, a citizen or class of citizens may petition the Magistrate's Court in the public interest to issue a Writ compelling the government to comply with the law.

(2) The Magistrate shall grant such a petition if the petitioner demonstrates that the government had a legal obligation to publish particular information by a particular time, but failed to do so.

(3) If the petitioner also demonstrates that they were materially harmed by the government's non-compliance, the Magistrate's Court may award to the petitioner no more than £250 of damages for each day that the government was non-compliant, calculated from the date the government was required to publish the information to the date the government actually published the information."

 

[Capt11543]

Labour/Public Servants
Through Their Member of Parliament Capt11543
Moves To Pass
The Accountability for Transparency Act​

Parliament notes:
(1) Several mandates for government transparency exist in statute, without an enforcement mechanism.

Based on this, Parliament decides:
(1) To establish a private right of action for enforcing transparency requirements.

To implement this, Parliament projects the following expenses:
(1) Potential fines, attorney wages, and damages, if the government fails to meet its obligations.

Further, Parliament projects the following administrative efforts:
(1) Defense of the government in Court if a petition is filed.