Legal And Policy Frameworks To Overcome Public Information Lock Up In Malaysia

This paper reports a study which aims to develop a legal and policy frameworks to overcome public information lock up in Malaysia. Public information lock up refers to the presence of the laws and policies which impede the citizens’ right to receive public sector information. Previous studies have identified public information lock up arising from colonial-origin legislations and post-colonial legislations which impede citizens’ right to receive information classified as sensitive, prohibited or non-accessible by the Government. The legal impediments have not been fully addressed in Malaysia, either through constitutional protection or sui generis law on the right to information. Hence, the need for an appropriate legal and policy frameworks to be developed. This study compared the laws and policies on citizens’ right to information in the UK, Canada and New Zealand in order to identify the legal and policy measures to overcome public information lock up. A cross-sectional survey using a 5-point Likert scale was also conducted among 40 respondents from government agency, independent statutory body, civil society and academia. The findings of the survey help to provide an insight on the most appropriate legal and policy measures to overcome public information lock up in Malaysia. The legal and policy frameworks are suitable for adoption by legislatures and policy makers and can become a benchmark in pursuing the objective of overcoming public information lock up in Malaysia. Analysis of Median value based on organization attached, found that a Median value of 3.50 is recorded from the respondents of the government agency for the following variables: i) online publication of government agencies’ performance index; and ii) publication of dataset and information on the websites and in an electronic form which is publicly accessible and capable of re-use. As from the respondents representing independent statutory body, the highest Median value is 4.50 for: i) constitutional protection of the right to receive information; and ii) publication of legislations, standards and policies. The lowest Median value of 2.50 is recorded from the respondents of the independent statutory body for prohibition against public authority charging fees in connection with making the copyright work available for re-use. As for respondents representing civil society, Median values above 4.00 are recorded for: i) constitutional protection of the right to receive information (4.50); ii) open data publication of government budget/spending/expenditure (5.00); iii) open data publication for government contracts and procurements (4.50); iv) mandatory reporting/disclosure of payments made to government related for sales and commercial development of oil, gas and minerals (4.50); v) public register of foreign companies dealing/purchasing property or bidding of government contracts (4.50); and vi) publication of data and information about government’s aid spending and contributions programs (5.00). A high Median value is also recorded from the academia whereby Median value 5.00 is recorded for: i) open data publication for government contracts and procurements; ii) mandatory reporting/disclosure of payments made to government related for sales and commercial development of oil, gas and minerals; iii) public register of foreign companies dealing/purchasing property or bidding of government contracts; publication of data and information about government’s aid spending and contributions programs; and v) publication Therefore, it overcome public