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Access
AI DIAMOND
Access by members of the public to records in the P.R.O. is governed at present by the Public Records (Access) Rules, 1972. These have the force of an "administrative instruction" only and are temporary, pending the passage of a Public Records Ordinance.
Nominally, Rules permit public access to records when the latter are thirty years old or older. However, this concession is qualified by Rule 5 which reserves to the Chief Secretary, in certain circumstances, the right to withhold records from public scrutiny even after the expiration of thirty years. This right would normally be exercised in cases where the opening of particular documents or classes of records to the public might endanger security or constitute a breach of government faith with members of the public.
The Rules also provide for relaxation of the 30-year rule in certain circumstances. In cases where records which are less than thirty years old are made available to applicants the latter may be required to sign an undertaking to submit to the Chief Secretary for inspection the text of any work based on such records which they intend to publish.