RTI response periods and exceptions

Section 7(1) ordinarily requires a decision as expeditiously as possible and within 30 days of receipt of the request. For information concerning a person’s life or liberty, the provision is 48 hours. Merely marking a request urgent does not establish that exception.

Section 5(2) adds five days when a request is submitted to an Assistant PIO for the purpose of calculating the Section 7(1) response period. Record the actual submission route and receipt, rather than only the date you wrote the document.

Section 6(3) permits transfer to another public authority within five days. Save each transfer and receipt record. Under Section 7(3), the interval between dispatch of an additional-fee notice and payment is excluded from the Section 7(1) calculation.

Section 11’s third-party procedure involves notice and representations and provides a decision period of 40 days from receipt. For human-rights allegations involving Section 24-exempt organisations, the Act requires Commission approval and specifies 45 days. These cases should not be assessed by an ordinary 30-day calculator.

Section 7(2) treats failure to give a decision within the applicable period as deemed refusal. Section 19(1) permits a first appeal within 30 days of expiry of that period or receipt of the decision, with late admission possible for sufficient cause.

Under Section 19(6), the first appeal should be disposed of within 30 days, or up to 45 days for reasons recorded in writing. A second appeal ordinarily has a 90-day period under Section 19(3). Keep evidence of receipt and delivery; exact deadlines may require case-specific assessment.