Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner. Guide to FOIP, CHAPTER 5, Third Party Information. Updated 9 March 2023. 100 (b) in the case of a decision to give access, a statement that the application will be given access to the record or to the part of it specified unless, within 20 days after the notice is given, the third party requests a review pursuant to section 49. (3) Where, pursuant to clause (1)(a), the head decides to give access to the record or a specified part of it, the head shall give the applicant access to the record or the specified part unless, within 20 days after a notice is given pursuant to clause (1)(b), a third party requests a review pursuant to section 49. (4) A head who fails to give notice pursuant to clause (1)(b) is deemed to have given notice, on the last day of the period set out in subsection (1), of a decision to refuse to give access to the record. Government institutions are required to decide whether or not to give access to all or part of the third party information within 30 days after the section 34 notice to the third party was given. The section 37 notice of decision is to be given to both the third party and the applicant. Government institutions are not required to accept a late submission from a third party (i.e., outside of the 20-day window contemplated by subsection 36(1)(b) of FOIP), but they may elect to do so, if the government institution is still able to make its decision within the 30 days allowed by subsection 37(1) of FOIP.222 Generally, there are three types of third party responses: • No Response: If no response is received within 20 days after the notice to the third party is given, the government institution decides, based on the information available, whether to release the information or not. • Consent to disclosure of information: If the third party responds by consenting in writing to disclosure of information, the government institution should disclose the information unless another one of the Act’s exemptions applies. • Representations about why information should not be disclosed: If the third party makes representations on why the information should not be disclosed, the government institution shall consider these representations in reaching a decision on access. 222 British Columbia Government Services, FOIPPA Policy and Procedures Manual at Section 24 - Time limit and notice of decision - Province of British Columbia (gov.bc.ca). Accessed Sept. 1, 2022.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTgwMjYzOA==