…AG Basil Williams argues
AGAINST the claims of the Opposition that the death certificates in the possession of APNU+AFC party agents were “obtained nefariously”, Attorney General, Basil Williams, has set the record straight by highlighting that every Guyanese has the right to access official documents in the possession of public authorities.
Since the commencement of the national recount, APNU+AFC agents have used the occasion to highlight cases where they believe persons may have voted illegally in the stead of dead persons.
The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) has questioned the agents’ possession of these documents with Opposition-nominated GECOM Commissioner, Sase Gunraj, stating: “It is worrisome to see persons purporting to have those documents in their hands. Whether they are legitimate or not, the main fact that they have access to it, is of concern.”
AN OFFICIAL DOCUMENT
However, pointing to the law, the AG cited the Access to Information Act, No. 21 of 2011, section 3(1), which first outlines that “the objective of this Act is to extend the right of members of the public to access information in the possession of public authorities.”
Further down in section 12(1) of the Act, it states: “Notwithstanding any law to the contrary and subject to the provisions of this Act, it shall be the right of every Guyanese citizen or person domiciled in Guyana to obtain access to an official document.”
The AG said that an ‘official document’ is defined in section 2 of the Act as “a document held by a public authority in connection with its functions as such, and created after the commencement of this Act and, for the purposes of this definition, a document is held by a public authority if it is in possession, custody or power”
Under Section 2, it states that a ‘document’ includes books, maps, plans, graphs, drawings and photographs; any disc, tape, soundtrack or other device in which sound or other data (not being visual images) are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom; any film, negative, tape or other device in which one or more visual images are embodied so as to be capable (with or without the aid of some other equipment) of being reproduced therefrom and any copy of a record which can be produced from a machine readable record under the control of a public authority however generated, such copy being deemed to be a record under the control of the public authority.
The AG highlighted that a death certificate falls under the category of both the definition of ‘document’ and ‘official document’ according to the Act.
OPEN ACCESS
Meanwhile, former Attorney General and PPP/C Executive, Anil Nandlall has also made remarks to the media stating that it is an offence for one to obtain a death certificate belonging to another person.
“The family did not authorise it, the family got their own document but someone in APNU/AFC got this document…this is an abuse of State power,” he said.
However, the AG once again pointed to the Law which details the procedure one should take to gain access to official documents as set out under Section 16 of the Access to Information Act.
He said that while it caters for an application to be made to the Commissioner of Information on the requisite form, Section 15 of the Act also creates an exception to accessing official documents from the said Commissioner.
Section 15 gives a list of three conditions wherein it states that “A person may not apply, under this Act for access” if the said conditions are met. These conditions are: (a) a document which contains information that is open to public access or on an official website, as part of a public register or otherwise, in accordance with any other written law, where even that access is subject to a fee or other charge; (b) a document which contains information that is available for purchase by the public in accordance with arrangements made by a public authority and (c) a document that is available for public inspection in a registry maintained by the Registrar General, the National Archives, Parliament or other public authority.
The AG further explained that the Collins Dictionary states that “you use ‘may’ to indicate that someone is allowed to do something, usually because of a rule or law. You use ‘may not’ to indicate that someone is not allowed to do something.”
“The Section states that a person ‘may not’ apply under the Act in certain instances. The use of ‘may not’ in the section is a prohibition,” he said, adding: “Therefore, for documents mentioned under section 15 of the Access to Information Act, a person is prohibited from accessing those documents from the Commissioner of Information.”
Pointing also to Section 49 of the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, Cap 44:01, he said that, as it relates to obtaining a death certificate, this document falls under paragraphs (b) and (c) of Section 15 of the Access to Information Act above.
The AG noted that death certificates are available for purchase and inspection in a registry maintained by the Registrar General. When it comes to access, one must be pointed to the Registration of Births and Deaths Act which details how an application must be made.
This must be done pursuant to Section 49 which states: “(1) The Registrar General shall cause indices of all duly completed registration forms in his possession herein mentioned to be made and kept in the General Registrar Office. (2) Everyone shall be entitled, on payment of the fees prescribed by the Minister by order, to search the indices between the hours of ten o’clock in the morning and four o’clock in the afternoon of every day, except public holidays and Saturdays, and to have extracted therefrom a sealed certificate of birth in Form 4 or a sealed certificate of death in Form 5, as the case may be.”
The APNU+AFC claims that it has unearthed over 4,122 numerical irregularities since the commencement of the recount process. Of these cases, they allege that some 41 persons would have voted in the place of dead persons.
Source: https://issuu.com/guyanachroniclee-paper/docs/guyana_chronicle_epaper_06_02_2020