Requests for access

(1) A person who wishes to obtain access to a document of a Ministry or requests prescribed authority shall make a request in writing to the Ministry or prescribed authority for access to the document. access. (2) Subject to subsection (3) of this section, a request shall provide such information concerning the document as is reasonably necessary to enable a responsible officer of the Ministry or prescribed authority, as the case may be, to identify the document. (3) Where a request is expressed to relate to all documents, or to all documents of a specified class, that contain information of a specified kind or relate to a specified subject- matter, compliance with the request may be refused if it would interfere unreasonably with the operations of the Ministry or prescribed authority, having regard to any difficulty that would exist in identifying, locating or collating documents containing relevant information within the filing system of the Ministry or prescribed authority. 14 (4) It is the duty of a Ministry or prescribed authority, where practicable, to assist a person who wishes to make a request, or has made a request that does not comply with this section or has not been directed to the appropriate Ministry or prescribed authority, to make a request in a manner that complies with this section or to direct a request to the appropriate Ministry or specified authority. (5) Where a request in writing is made to a Ministry or prescribed authority for access to a document, the Ministry or prescribed authority, as the case may be, shall not refuse to comply with the request on the ground, (a) that the request does not comply with subsection (2) of this section; or (b) that, in the case of a request of the kind referred to in subsection (3) of this section, compliance with the request would interfere unreasonably with the operations of the Ministry or prescribed authority, as the case may be, without first giving the applicant a reasonable opportunity of consultation with the Ministry or prescribed authority with a view to the making of a request in a form that would remove the ground for refusal.