Tight grip released

Tyrone Reid, Sunday Gleaner Reporter

It took a strongly worded letter from The Gleaner's legal counsel to get the Attorney General's Chambers to release its griplike hold on controversial emails exchanged between the solicitor general and Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

After locating the requested emails, the Attorney General's Chambers attempted to delay the handover of the documents by 30 days.

Under the Access to Infor-mation (ATI) Act, the government entity is given a maximum of 30 days within which to satisfy the request, provided that the requested documents do not fall in any of the nine categories of exempt documents specified under the act. But the act also allows for the extension of this period by another 30 days, which may only be done where there is reasonable cause to do so.

Despite the clearly defined parameters of the ATI Act, it took more than two months for the ATI request to be granted, and the government entity in question did not establish reasonable cause. The delay spawned the intervention of The Gleaner's legal department, which told the goverment's lawyers that "given the pronouncements of the solicitor general and the prime minister on this matter, a one-hour review of the Access to Information Act and the sketchy literature thereon, should have sufficed to complete the review process.

"It is beyond our understanding why the Attorney General's Department, with all its resources, should require all of 60 days to review a few emails and take a decision. We, therefore, ask that you comply with the terms of said act, which is so often heralded by your government, and supply us with the documents requested as soon as possible."

The ATI request was granted two days later.