Implementation of the Access to Information Act (SYC0002)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address?
Following the enactment of the Access to Information Act, 2018, public authorities and their respective officials are finding it hard to implement the new law, thus they are unable to provide the public with the information they need effectively. The public bodies are still unsure how to go about the process when addressing a request by the public and the public does not understand its right in relation to access to information and what is and what is not permissible under this new Act. The delay in establishing the Information Commission, as required by the Act, also caused a setback in the implementation of the new law as the Department of Information, under the Office of the Vice-President had to step in to assist public bodies, albeit, itself having to navigate in an unknown territory. There are also delays in setting up an ATI web page for proactive disclosure, and the poor management of information and records is constantly causing numerous problems when the public request information or their files. Civil society organisations are not equipped to better assist citizens in exercising their rights with regards accessibility to information. At present, citizens are not fully sensitized on the Access to Information Act, and how to go about acquiring the information/records they need.

What is the commitment?
Public authorities and their respective officials will have to be trained and be sensitised to the principles and processes of the ATI Act. This includes ensuring the autonomy of appointed Information Officers. Citizens will also have to be sensitised on their rights vis à vis their constitutional right to access public information, about the ATI Act itself, and, how it can benefit them. Information Commissioners would also have to be trained on what is required of the Information Commission in its early stage; the role of the Commission and Information Officers; the sensitisation and education role of the Commission; the handling of appeal cases that are referred to the Commission and the monitoring and evaluation report writing of the Commission. Government will have to appraise the current situation and status of public records in all their entities, and also carry out an assessment as to what type of management information systems and data capture procedures and mechanisms exists, to enable ATI to take place. Government will also have to develop a simple but coherent legislative framework for management and accessing of Government information within the spectrum of digital government, through staged reforms (commencing with legislation regulating archives), supported by efficient and effective policies and practices.
Civil society organisations will have to be trained and equipped to actively sensitize and educate the citizens/society. Sensitization campaigns for citizens, starting in schools and all educational establishments up to the elderly and persons with disabilities need to know this constitutional right and how to exercise it.

How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
The commitment will provide the public authorities, the Information Officers with the right tools/materials to assist public request for information. Additionally, it will provide an opportunity for citizens and civil society organisations to collaborate with Government officials to address irregularities concerning the dispensation of information. The Information Commission would also be in a better position to know how to operate as a Commission and understand its role towards public entities, Information Officers and the public. A well-educated and sensitised society through accessible records and management information systems established through policies and legislation, strengthened and equipped CEPS secretariat and other civil society platforms to facilitate the process, will make access to information transparent, effective and timely.

Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
This commitment is relevant to access to information and civic participation because it will promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption and harness new technologies to strengthen governance. A record management system and simplified version of the Act will be created to make public information available to citizens, as well as improve the quality of information led by Government offices, ensuring that accountability is institutionalised and good governance takes place.

Additional information
The commitments in the NAP are in line with Seychelles’ Vision 2033 and the first National Development Strategy (NDS). Implementation of the Commitment will be monitored by the RBM Committee.

2. Implementation of the Access to Information Act

Public authorities and their respective officials will have to be trained and be sensitised to the principles and processes of the ATI Act. This includes ensuring the autonomy of appointed Information Officers.

Citizens will also have to be sensitised on their rights vis à vis their constitutional right to access public information, about the ATI Act itself, and, how it can benefit them.

Information Commissioners would also have to be trained on what is required of the Information Commission in its early stage; the role of the Commission and Information Officers; the sensitisation and education role of the Commission; the handling of appeal cases that are referred to the Commission and the monitoring and evaluation report writing of the Commission.

Government will have to appraise the current situation and status of public records in all their entities, and also carry out an assessment as to what type of management information systems and data capture procedures and mechanisms exists, to enable ATI to take place.

Government will also have to develop a simple but coherent legislative framework for management and accessing of Government information within the spectrum of digital government, through staged reforms (commencing with legislation regulating archives), supported by efficient and effective policies and practices.

Civil society organisations will have to be trained and equipped to actively sensitize and educate the citizens/society.

Sensitization campaigns for citizens, starting in schools and all educational establishments up to the elderly and persons with disabilities need to know this constitutional right and how to exercise it.

Main Objective

The commitment will provide the public authorities, the Information Officers with the right tools/materials to assist public request for information. Additionally, it will provide an opportunity for citizens and civil society organisations to collaborate with government officials to address irregularities concerning the dispensation of information.

The Information Commission would also be in a better position to know how to operate as a Commission and understand its role towards public entities, Information Officers and the public.

A well-educated and sensitised society through accessible records and management information systems established through policies and legislation, strengthened and equipped CEPS secretariat and other civil society platforms to facilitate the process, will make access to information transparent, effective and timely.

Milestones

• Information Commission (in collaboration with the Department of Information) will conduct training programs for all Information Officers for the performance of their duties under the Act under the following themes:
  1. Value of ATI and their role
  2. Receiving and responding to requests
  3. Proactive disclosure
  4. Records management
• The Information Commission (in collaboration with the Department of Information) to facilitate training of ATI Commissioners and staff of the Information Commission by resource persons from ATI Commissions in comparable jurisdictions.
• Information Commission (in collaboration with the Department of Information) to sensitise and train public authorities in order to change the mind set of secrecy to one of civic participation, accountability and assistance to citizens.
• An appraisal of government records throughout the executive takes place to inform government on the state of records and action required.
• An ATI web page for proactive disclosure operating in each and every government entity.
• DICT has put in each government entity a Management Information System.
• The Information Commission (in collaboration with the Department of Information) will earmark specific CSOs to actively take on the education and sensitization of citizens.
• The Information Commission (in collaboration with the Department of Information) will see that sensitization campaigns for citizens take place, starting in schools and all educational establishments, with the elderly and persons with disabilities also included.
• Train and equip civil society to deliver the sensitization campaigns.

Editorial note: For the complete text of this commitment, please see Seychelles' action plan at https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/seychelles-action-plan-2019-2021/.

Commitment analysis

The right to access information is guaranteed by article 28 of Seychelles Constitution. The Access to Information (ATI) Act was enacted in July 2018 and followed by the establishment of the Information Commission. [36] Seychellois civil society attests to having lobbied for the Act at both the national and international levels, including through the Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (ATI) for Africa in 2015. [37] Through the Constitution and the ATI Act, citizens are entitled to information held by public agencies and may obtain it through either proactive and regular disclosure by the government or reactive disclosure in response to information requested and filed through the appropriate channels. [38] Information officers are appointed via nomination by public entities and serve as the frontline workers in the implementation of the Act. [39]

A progressive shift towards conditions that favour access to information seems to be underway despite there being no implementation framework accompanying the ATI Act. [40] According to an official of the Information Commission, the use of the Act by citizens and members of the National Assembly had already exceeded expectations within the first year of implementation, with 3,000 information requests filed, far beyond the target of 800 to 900 requests. [41] Transparency Initiative Seychelles (TI-S) was the key in achieving this as they promoted the Act and provided guidance. TI-S also entered into a partnership with the Information Commission to run a variety of promotional activities. [42] Other efforts that may have contributed to this included the publication of the names of the information officers in the newspaper and launch of the Information Commission's website [43] and outreach activities such as a televised seminar, televised celebration of the Universal Access to Information Day and media training. [44] These efforts are in line with the strategic priorities of the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) for 2019–2021, which includes, among others, assisting MDAs to comply with the ATI Act, promoting better use of government websites, and removing obstacles that hinder the implementation of the Act. [45]

All government agencies are required to proactively disclose public information and to submit information publication plans to the Information Commission [46] and to establish an ATI webpage. [47] Prior to the NAP, Seychelles had committed to improve proactive disclosure in its Seychelles Strategy 2017, stating it would establish an intra-government communication system that would enhance communications between public officers across government MDAs. The same system would host digitised data from the Office of Registrar General, thereby acting as the open data portal. [48] A 'one-stop shop' Public Information Bureau would also be established. [49]

To sustain these early gains, the commitment seeks to address several major problems around access to information. Implementation failure has been a common concern globally where ATI legislation is concerned, with most countries implementing ATI legislation experiencing a range of difficulties. [50] The same can be said in Seychelles, where various accounts suggest non-compliance by the bureaucracy in this regard, especially where cases of corruption are concerned, even with clear sanctions in place as established in articles 63 (3) or 67 of the ATI Act. [51]

Government officials and civil society representatives alike have cited significant delays in receiving responses to their information requests. Information officers often offer excuses, from being unable to access certain information, as the file is 'on a minister's/commissioner's desk' [52], that documents were destroyed by 'fungus, fire or flood' [53] to refusing a request due to legal barriers or that certain information is outside the mandate of a particular institution to request. [54] According to an official from the Truth, Reconciliation and National Unity Commission (TRNUC), there remains arbitrary reluctance to disclose certain information despite the Act being in effect. [55] Information officers have also been described as partaking in 'cover-up' culture for fear of backlash, job loss and/or legal action that may follow the disclosure of certain information. High-level civil servants are in turn described as reluctant to implement the Act due to perceived loss of power and prestige. [56] These issues are evident when assessing proactive disclosure; MDAs and public officials often fail to comply with proactive disclosure requirements, such as observed from low declaration of assets, in which government officials tend to comply only when faced with legal consequences [57] TI-S also noted the absences of the necessary mindset for strong proactive disclosure and reluctance to sharing information and being held accountable as factors. [58]

There are also other institutional and structural challenges—Reporters without Borders states that Seychelles' ATI legislation is weakened by exemptions in the Act that afford public officials the berth to skirt 'sensitive issues' in the name of national security or upholding the economy. [59] Seychelles' Official Secrets Act further compounds this issue. Coupled with poor information quality, these realities erode public trust in the government's ability to deliver on its commitment. [60] Similarly, some challenges are caused by the absence of proper handover procedures for incoming and outgoing staff members, which often results in applicants having to restart their information requests. Civil society members described instances in which they were following up on requests after many months of delay, only to receive a reply stating that the officer assigned to their case had departed several months earlier. [61] Alternatively ATI applicants are left in limbo, with their ATI requests in abeyance. [62] Provisions in the Act have been blamed for this given that the Act ties the responsibility for a response to an individual rather than to an office. Alongside this is the fact that information officers have limited authority and are unable to act on requests or proactively disclose information without receiving higher clearance. [63] There are also concerns that many information officers are junior staff who often lack the requisite skills to perform their duties, [64] and their timidity is exacerbated by the bureaucratic culture requiring civil servants to 'fall in line'. Another bottleneck may be due to the fact that information officers often have other roles within their departments that are given greater priority and also due to the 'allowance' compensation structure. [65] The impact of COVID-19 on the economy has led to this allowance being withdrawn, which could affect future response rates. [66]

Seychelles also possesses a weak ATI infrastructure and poor records management. [67] Records are generally stored in old buildings or containers, leading to documents being destroyed by mould and fungus. [68] Alternatively, information may be available but in an inaccessible format. [69] Accessing certain types of government information also remains difficult. [70] Though it is hoped that the new draft Public Records Act will resolve some of these issues, [71] resources and financing also present additional challenges, with the Information Commission operating on a restricted budget and limited resources. [72] Further scepticism of the Act exists following the Ministry of Finance, Trade, Investment and Economic Planning's decision to cut the budget, which could severely set back the setting up of management information systems. [73] Meanwhile, the public also struggles to understand where to verify information, where to submit an information request, and the extent of its rights to information and how far it can go in demanding those rights. [74]

The commitment is verifiable but could be strengthened by including dimensions that highlight the scope of training, for example, the numbers to be trained, the nature and form of sensitisation campaigns to be undertaken, or how the training of civil society members would cascade. The commitment is relevant to the OGP values of access to information and technology and innovation for openness and accountability. In regard to the latter, the milestones achieve this through introducing management information systems and enhancing government websites through the introduction of ATI webpages. It would be important for the government to consider how these interact with other existing government open data portals. In regard to access to information, the commitment introduces a host of interventions that target the internal working systems and work environment, focusing on shoring up the internal capacity of the government to meet these objectives. Stakeholders interviewed by the IRM researcher are fairly optimistic about this commitment being implemented in full and believe that the commitment will lead to the production of information, will trigger demand for information, and could encourage greater public participation. [75]

The commitment is seen as having moderate potential impact. The commitment outlines relevant initial steps towards the implementation of the Act, such as training government officials and conducting appraisals of government records. However, it does not address budgetary constraints and diminishing resources. Additionally, moving away from an organizational culture of secrecy and the existing incentive structure will require actions beyond technical training. Effective implementation of the ATI Act would be aided by taking some critical factors into consideration, including analysing user experience and data consumption; clarifying how the Information Commission, the Ombudsman, citizens and public authorities all intersect within the ATI ecosystem; seeking political will and leadership; having independent, non-partisan and well-resourced oversight mechanisms in place; and establishing and implementing robust penalties for non-compliance. [76] Sensitising the media for more scrutiny could also be useful to ensure that ATI requests lead to an analysis and synthesis of issues that aid public debate rather than favour partisan politics or self-aggrandisement. [77] Technical milestones in this commitment will be most effective when paired with high-level political support and active engagement from the media and civil society.

Next steps

To be transformative, the commitment would need to address some of the outlined concerns to enhance government transparency and accountability. The Information Commission and the DICT need to develop an implementation framework to guide the phased approach to addressing some of the more systemic issues. Links to the performance management framework should also be established as grafting indicators on ATI within the performance management system to ensure continual improvement, [78] such as a rewards system for exemplary performance.

The Information Commission could partner with civil society to research how to expand its authorities to audit, instruct and penalise the government and submit its assessment during the review of the Act. The Information Commission could also explore practical measures to dissuade or combat information officers or other government officials' attempts to game the system. Further consideration should also be given to the quality of proactive disclosure and quality of information provided, especially in regard to its validity, format and readability. The level of disclosure required can be predetermined with certain classes of information mandated to be disclosed as a minimum. Alternatively, levels of disclosure can be based on the amount of demand for particular types of information, such as the practice in countries like Mexico. [79] The Information Commission could determine what classes of information are deemed to a basic minimum. Most importantly, the government will also need to address the Commission's financing and human resource challenges. Tackling these various avenues will require strong collaboration between the Information Commission and civil society and across government agencies.

In regard to sensitisation, stakeholders interviewed advised that sensitisation efforts also indicate to citizens how far their right stretches, rather than only provide broad information, given that citizens do not understand how far they can go to claim their right to information. To address some of the cultural barriers in implementing the Act, it was suggested for the training on ATI to be grafted into basic education curricula, with children informed about their rights to access information. Within government, it was suggested that mandatory training be provided to all staff upon recruitment, irrespective of one's position. This could potentially help government officials better understand and fulfil the public's right to information over the long haul.

Commitment 2. Implementation of the Access to Information Act

Limited:

This commitment aimed to address obstacles to implementing the 2018 Access to Information Act. The act allows for broad access to government-held information. However, a civic and bureaucratic culture of secrecy and the delayed establishment of the Information Commission has inhibited implementation of the law. ^[35]

The Information Commission and Department of Information committed to enhance proactive information disclosure and increase citizen understanding around their access to information (ATI) rights. The key milestones included delivery of training programs for information commissioners; sensitization of public authorities on disclosure; appraisal of the state of government records; public sensitization campaigns; and establishment of an access to information webpage for every government entity. ^[36]

This commitment saw limited completion. Sensitization of the public on ATI was limited, appraisal of the state of government records was not achieved, and not every government entity has established an access to information webpage. Positively, the Information Commission made progress training information officers and public authorities. ^[37]

Access to information training for public officials

The Information Commission held several trainings for public officials on access to information. On 24 October 2019, the Information Commission held a half-day workshop for information officers on responsibilities under the ATI Act in regard to making information available and responding to requests for information. ^[38] An induction meeting for a group of information officers was held on 16 June 2020 and a second meeting with an information officer and representatives from other government departments was held on 5 October 2021. ^[39] On 15 October 2021, a sensitization session was conducted on the Access to Information Act 2018 with staff at the Department of Risk and Disaster Management. However, the IRM did not find evidence on the substantive issues covered in comparison with the intended themes listed under the first milestone.

Records management and access to information webpages

The Government of Seychelles did not conduct an appraisal of executive records to determine the state of government records. ^[40] The government also did not establish an ATI webpage for every government entity in the implementation period. The Department of Information Communications Technology (DICT) submitted an ATI webpage template in July 2021 for approval and once it was approved, all government entities were expected to have set up an ATI webpage by November-October 2021. ^[41] At the time of compiling this report, there was no evidence that all government departments had set up such a webpage.

Civil society training and public outreach

There was no evidence that the Information Commission appointed CSOs to undertake education and citizen sensitization on ATI. The government stated that budget cuts, emergency health measures, and the freeze of hiring for the technical person in charge of delivering education and sensitization inhibited outreach efforts. ^[42] Alvin Laurence of CEPS also noted that most CSOs had already received their government grants and resources for the year, and that these grants were tied to specific projects not related to ATI. [43] The IRM also did not find evidence that outreach efforts intentionally targeted marginalized groups, including schools, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, as envisioned in milestone 8. 

The Information Commission did publish a “How-to Manual of the Access to Information Act, 2018.” ^[44] An additional summary on how-to-access information was shared on the website and via Facebook in September 2021. ^[45] Several government entities have published the manual, such as the Central Bank of Seychelles, ^[46] Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority, ^[47] and the Judiciary of Seychelles. ^[48]

Training for government officials on access to information and the publication of a 'how to' guide are incremental positive steps toward implementation of the ATI law. However, financial and human resource constraints inhibited key activities such as public sensitization, proactive information disclosure and a review of the state of government records.

The COVID-19 pandemic has restricted access to information across the globe. At the same time, the pandemic has made citizen access to accurate and timely information such as public health statistics and services and emergency government spending all the more important. [49] Therefore, the IRM recommends that the Information Commission and Department of Information continue expanding citizens’ access to information through the following:

· Continue to support government agencies’ proactive disclosure of information through ATI webpages and National Bureau of Statistics to reduce the burden of responding to information requests.

· Continue to train public servants on record keeping and responding to ATI requests with a specific aim to counter the culture of government secrecy.

· Continue public outreach efforts through diverse and accessible formats such as videos, animations, braille, and texts in local languages to inform the public on how to access information.

· Conduct targeted training with journalists and CSOs on the legal framework around access to information and consult participants on the accessibility of channels for information disclosure.

· Expand on the existing access to information statistical report to include analysis of the information presented and qualitative analysis of implementation of the ATI law. ^[50]