Certain documents to be available for inspection and purchase

(1) This section applies to documents that are provided by the Ministry or prescribed authority for the use of, or are used by the Ministry or prescribed authority or its officers in making decisions or recommendations, under or for the purposes of an enactment or scheme administered by the Ministry or prescribed authority, with respect to rights, privileges or benefits, or to obligations, penalties or other detriments, to or for which persons are or may be entitled or subject, being, (a) manuals or other documents containing interpretations, rules, guidelines, practices or precedents; or 11 (b) documents containing particulars of such a scheme, not being particulars contained in an enactment or published under this Act, but not including documents that are available to the public as published otherwise than by a Ministry or prescribed authority. (2) The principal officer shall, (a) cause copies of all documents to which this section applies that are in use from time to time to be made available for inspection and for purchase by members of the public; (b) not later than 12 months after the commencement of this Act, cause to be published in the Gazette, a statement (which may take the form of an index) specifying the documents of which copies are, at the time of preparation of the statement, so available and the place or places where copies may be inspected and may be purchased; and (c) within 12 months after the publication of the statement under paragraph (b) and thereafter at intervals of not more than 12 months, cause to be published in the Gazette, statements bringing up to date information contained in the previous statement or statements. (3) The principal officer is not required to comply fully with paragraph (2) (a) before the expiration of 12 months after the commencement of this Act, but shall, before that time, comply with that paragraph so far as is practicable. (4) This section does not require a document of the kind referred to in subsection (1) of this section containing exempt matter to be made available in accordance with subsection (2) 12 of this section, but, if such a document is not so made available, the principal officer shall, if practicable, cause to be prepared a corresponding document, altered only to the extent necessary to exclude the exempt matter, and cause the document so prepared to be dealt with in accordance with subsection (2) of this section. (5) Subsections (2) and (3) of this section, apply in relation to a Ministry or prescribed authority that comes into existence after the commencement of this Act as if the references in those subsections to the commencement of this Act were references to the day on which the Ministry or prescribed authority comes into existence.