Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner – Report A-2012-006 Released

The Information and Privacy Commissioner, Ed Ring, has released his Report A-2012-006 under authority of the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act. A summary of the report is included below.

To view the report in its entirety, please go to www.oipc.nl.ca/accessreports.htm 

Report: A-2012-006
Report Date: April 12, 2012
Public Body: College of the North Atlantic

Summary: The Applicant applied to the College of the North Atlantic (“the College”) under the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the “ATIPPA”) for access to records containing instructions given by the College’s Vice-President and General Counsel to staff in relation to the conduct of a search for records which were to be provided to the Applicant pursuant to an earlier court order. The College allowed access to certain records. However, the College denied access to other records claiming they were subject to litigation privilege and, therefore, excepted from disclosure by section 21 (legal advice) of the ATIPPA. The Commissioner determined that the College had properly exercised its discretion to deny access in accordance with the section 21 exception as the records were protected by litigation privilege.

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Media contact:
Ed Ring
Information and Privacy Commissioner
709-729-6309

2012 04 17             11:10 a.m.