Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez has issued three decisions on PATI requests involving the Bermuda Medical Council, Bermuda Police Service, and Department of Child and Family Services.
A spokesperson said, “On 30 April 2024, Information Commissioner Gitanjali Gutierrez issued three decisions: Decision 13/2024 involved the Bermuda Medical Council, Decision 14/2024 the Bermuda Police Service and Decision 15/2024 the Department of Child and Family Services.
“In Decision 13/2024, the Applicant had made a PATI request for records related to all misconduct proceedings and other records related to a named medical practitioner. The Bermuda Medical Council [BMC] granted partial access to the responsive records and relied on several exemptions under the PATI Act to refuse to disclose the withheld records. As a result, the Applicant sought an independent review from the Information Commissioner challenging the reasonableness of the search for records and the refusal of access to some of the records that had been identified.
“The Information Commissioner found that the BMC was correct in withholding access to some of the records because under the PATI Act these records related to either the exercise of a judicial or quasi-judicial function, were subject to legal professional privilege or contained personal information and the public interest did not require disclosure. As a result, the Information Commissioner did not require the Department to take any further action regarding the Decision. During the review, the BMC also issued a new initial decision on additional records that had been located.
“In Decision 14/2024, the Applicant had made a PATI request for records relating to the execution of a search warrant. More specifically, the Applicant requested copies of correspondence between the Officer in Charge of the Professional Standards Department of the Bermuda Police Service [BPS] and the Commissioner of Police relating to an internal review of a search warrant obtained and executed by the BPS. In its decision to the Applicant, the BPS denied access to the records because they claimed that the records were related to the exercise of a judicial function and/or they had been created or obtained by the Attorney General’s Chambers in the course of carrying out their functions and therefore the PATI Act did not apply to the records.
“During her independent review, the Information Commissioner found that the records did not relate to the exercise of a judicial function and that the BPS had not provided any evidence that the records had been created or obtained by the Attorney General’s Chambers. As a result, the Information Commissioner annulled the BPS’s internal review decision and ordered the BPS to issue the Applicant a new decision by Tuesday, 11 June, either granting access to the records or denying access under an administrative denial or an exemption in Part 4 of the PATI Act.
“In Decision 15/2024, the Applicant had made a PATI request for records relating to the local residential care homes maintained by the Department of Child and Family Services. The Applicant also sought records related to the Department’s transitional living scheme.
“In its decision to the Applicant, the Department refused part of the PATI request because a record did not exist or could not be found, while also denying access to additional responsive records because their disclosure would endanger the health and safety of an individual, would prejudice the operations of the public authority, or disclosure would prejudice the security of a building.
“In her Decision the Information Commissioner found that the Department was correct in its decision because disclosure of the majority of the records was prohibited by the Children Act 1998 and the disclosure of the remaining records was likely to endanger the health and safety of the residents and staff of the residential care homes. As a result, the Information Commissioner did not require the Department to take any further action regarding the Decision.”
The full Decision 13/2024 on the Bermuda Medical Council follows below [PDF here]:
The full Decision 14/2024 on the Bermuda Police Service follows below [PDF here]:
The full Decision 15/2024 on the Department of Child and Family Services follows below [PDF here]:
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