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Fiji Legislation |
LAWS OF FIJI
CHAPTER 108
PUBLIC RECORDS
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
PART I-PRELIMINARY
SECTION
1.
Short
title.
2.
Interpretation.
3.
Application.
PART II-ADMINISTRATION
4.
Archives
office.
5.
Archivist.
6.
Delegation of the Archivist's
powers.
PART III-CUSTODY AND PRESERVATION OF ARCHIVES
7.
Deposit of public records in the Archives
office.
8.
Deposit of public records of less than
fifteen years of
age.
9.
Public records not in the Archives
office.
10.
Return of public records in Government
office.
11.
Public records to be surrendered on
demand.
12.
Public records not to be destroyed or disposed of without the authority of the
Archivist.
13.
Routine destruction of public
records.
14.
Access to public records in the Archives
office.
15.
Publication of public
records.
16.
Copyright.
PART IV-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
17.
Archives office
seal.
18.
Certified
copies.
19.
Regulations.
20.
Offences and penalties.
-------------------------------------------------
PUBLIC RECORDS
Ordinance
No.
7
of
1968,
Act
No.
29
of
1971
AN ACT
TO PROVIDE FOR THE BETTER PRESERVATION OF
THE
PUBLIC RECORDS
OF FIJI
[8th May, 1970]
PART I-PRELIMINARY
Short title
1.
This Act may be cited as the Public Records Act.
Interpretation
2.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires-
"Archives office" means the National Archives of Fiji established under this Act;
(Amended by 29 of 1971, s. 2.)
"Archivist" means the Archivist appointed under this Act;
"Government office" means any ministry, department, office, agency, or instrument of any kind of the legislative or executive or judicial government of Fiji; and includes any office or corporation or other body declared by the Minister to be a Government office for the purposes of this Act;
"public records" means all such documentary materials of any kind, nature or description which have been drawn up, made, received, acquired or used in the course of legislative, administrative or executive transactions or in proceedings in any court, together with all exhibits and other material evidences which form part of or are annexed to or are otherwise related to specific documents, which are or are required to be in the custody of any public officer or Government office or which may at the commencement of this Ordinance or thereafter be transferred to or acquired by the Archives office.
Application
3.
Nothing in this Act or in any regulations made under it shall apply with respect
to any public record which has been drawn up, received,
acquired or used by any
Government office if such record discloses any information which is required to
be kept secret pursuant to
the provisions of any
Act.
(Section
amended
by
29
of
1971,
s.
3.)
PART II-ADMINISTRATION
Archives office
4.-(1)
There shall continue to be established an Archives office to be know .as "the
National Archives of Fiji" wherein shall be stored
for better preservation such
of the public records of Fiji as are transferred thereto or acquired by the
Archivist under the provisions
of this Act.
(2) Subject to any general or special directions which may be given to him by the Minister, the Archivist may by contract or bequest or in any like manner acquire for the Archives office all such original records, manuscripts and other documentary materials, or copies or replicas thereof, other than public records, as he may deem necessary or desirable to secure and all such materials shall be deemed to be public records of Fiji for the purposes of this Act.
(Section
amended
by
29
of
1971,
s.
4.)
Archivist
5.
The Public Service Commission shall appoint an Archivist who shall, subject to
any directions given to him by the Minister, be charged
with the care, custody,
control and administration of the public records in the Archives office and the
public access thereto and
with the performance of any other duties prescribed by
this
Act.
(Amended
by
29
of
1971,
s.
5.)
Delegation of the Archivist's powers
6.-(1)
The Archivist may from time to time delegate in writing any of his powers under
this Act, except the power of authorising the
destruction or disposal of public
records, to any person or class of
persons.
(2) Subject to any
general or special directions given or conditions attached by the Archivist, the
person to whom any powers are
delegated under this section may exercise those
powers in the same manner and with the same effect as if they had been conferred
on him directly by this section and not by a
delegation:
Provided that no such
delegation shall prevent the exercise of any power by the
Archivist.
(3) Every person
purporting to act pursuant to any delegation under this section shall, in the
absence of proof to the contrary, be
presumed to be acting in accordance with
the terms of the delegation.
(4)
Every delegation under this section shall, until it is revoked, continue in
force according to its tenor, notwithstanding the
fact that the Archivist by
whom it was made may have ceased to hold office, and shall continue to have
effect as if made by his successor
in office.
PART III-CUSTODY AND PRESERVATION OF ARCHIVES
Deposit of public records in the Archives office
7.-(1)
All public records of the age of fifteen years or over (other than those which
under any Act are required to be held in the custody
of a specified person or
Government office) which in the opinion of the Archivist are of sufficient value
to warrant their preservation
as-
(a) evidence of the organisation, functions and transactions of the Government office in which they were originally made or received; or
(b) evidence of public or private personal or property rights or civic rights; or
(c) containing historical or general information,
shall be transferred to the custody of the Archivist and be deposited in the Archives office.
(2)
Notwithstanding anything in subsection (1) contained-
(a) where the Archivist is satisfied that the deposit in the Archives office of any particular public record of the age of fifteen years or over would unduly prejudice the effective administration of any Government office, he shall defer the deposit of that public record for such period as may be agreed upon between the Archivist and the administrative head of the Government office affected;
(b) where the administrative head of the Government office having the possession or control of any public record satisfies the Archivist that by reason of its secret or confidential nature it would not be in the public interest immediately to deposit that record in the Archives office, the Archivist shall from time to time defer the deposit of that public record for such period as may be agreed upon between that administrative head and the Archivist;
(c) where the Minister in charge of any Government office certifies that in his opinion any specified public record or specified class of public records in the custody or control of the Government office contains information the release of which may adversely affect the security of Fiji or relations between the Government of Fiji and the government of any other country, the deposit in the Archives office of that public record or of public records of that class shall be deferred for such period or shall be made subject to such conditions as to access or otherwise as that Minister from time to time directs;
(d) where the deposit of any public record in the Archives office is deferred as aforesaid, the Archivist may prescribe any conditions he thinks fit to ensure the safe preservation of any such record during the time they are kept in a Government office.
(3)
Any public records deposited under the provisions of subsection (2) may be
deposited unconditionally or, if the administrative
head of the Government
office making the deposit so requires, shall be deposited subject to such
conditions as to access and otherwise
as may be agreed upon from time to time by
the Archivist and the administrative head of that
office.
(4) Where the
administrative head of any Government office and the Archivist are unable to
agree as to whether or not the deposit
of any public records in the Archives
office should be deferred or as to the period for which that deposit should be
deferred or
as to the conditions as to access and otherwise on which any public
records should be so deposited, that question shall be determined
by the joint
decision of the Minister and the Minister in charge of that Government office,
and their decision shall be final.
Deposit of public records of less than fifteen years of age
8.-(1)
The Archivist may allow the deposit in the Archives office of public records of
less than fifteen years of age if he considers
that they are of sufficient value
for deposit.
(2) Any deposit of
public records under the provisions of subsection (1) may be subject to any
special conditions imposed by the administrative
head of the Government office
making the deposit.
Public records not in the Archives office
9.-(1)
The Archivist shall be entitled from time to time to inspect any public records
that are for the time being in the possession
or under the control of any
Government office and give such instructions as to their safe preservation and
such advice as to their
efficient and economical administration and management
as he considers necessary.
(2)
Nothing in this section shall be deemed to authorise the Archivist to inspect
the contents of any public records-
(a) which by any written law are forbidden to be communicated to him; or,
(b) which are secret or confidential, except with the consent of the administrative head of the Government office having the custody thereof.
Return of public records in Government office
10.
Where the administrative head of the Government office by which any public
record was deposited in the Archives, or the administrative
head of the
successor of that Government office, satisfies the Archivist that the public
record is required for use in that Government
office, the Archivist shall return
such public record to the custody of that Government office for such period as
may be agreed upon
between the Archivist and the administrative head, and
subject to such conditions as the Archivist may prescribe to ensure the safe
custody and preservation of that public record during the time it is kept in
that Government office.
Public records to be surrendered on demand
11.
Where any public record is in the custody or possession of any person other than
a public officer or other person authorised to have
such custody or possession
in his official capacity, that person shall, on demand in writing by the
Archivist, deposit that public
record in the Archives office or in such other
government office as the Archivist may direct.
Public
records
not
to
be
destroyed
or
disposed
of
without
the
authority
of
the
Archivist
12.-(1)
No person shall destroy or otherwise dispose of, or authorise the destruction or
other disposal of, any public record of any
kind whatsoever that is in is
possession or under his control, except with the consent of the Archivist given
in accordance with
the provisions of this
Act.
(2) Before authorising the
destruction of any public record or any class thereof, the Archivist may, if he
thinks fit, consult with
any person whom the Archivist considers qualified to
advise him as to value thereof for permanent preservation.
Routine destruction of public records
13.
The Archivist may authorise the immediate destruction, or the destruction after
the expiration of such specified time as may be agreed
upon between the
Archivist and the administrative head of the Government office concerned, of any
specified public records or classes
of public records that-
(a) by reason of their number, kind or routine nature do not in his opinion possess any enduring value for preservation in the Archives office; and
(b) are not required for reference purposes in any Government office after action on them is completed, or after the expiration of such period of years from the date on which action on them is completed as may be agreed upon between the Archivist and the administrative head of the Government office concerned.
Access to public records in the Archives office
14.-(1)
Except as may be otherwise provided in any written law, and subject to the
conditions under which any records are deposited,
all records deposited in the
Archives office shall be available for public reference subject to the
provisions of any regulations
made under this
Act:
Provided that-
(a) the Archivist may, for any good cause, withhold access to any specified public record or any specified class of public records in his custody subject to the right of the person so denied access to appeal to the Minister, whose decision thereon shall be final;
(b) any public record deposited in the Archives office by any court and containing any information relating to the trial or punishment of any particular person may be inspected only by a person authorised in writing by the Chief Justice or by any other person authorised by the Chief Justice in that behalf.
(2)
Nothing in this section contained shall limit the powers of any competent court
to order the production of any public record of
Fiji.
(3) Notwithstanding the
other provisions of this section and subject to the provisions of paragraph
(b)
of subsection (1), the Minister may at any time, by order in writing addressed
to the Archivist, withhold access either generally
or by any person or class of
persons to any specified public record or to any specified class of public
records in the custody of
the
Archivist.
(4) Any person may,
with the consent of the Archivist, make or cause to be made at his own expense
copies of or extracts from any
public archives which are available for public
reference under this section.
Publication of public records
15.
On the recommendation of the Archivist, the Minister may authorise the
publication of any public records deposited in the Archives
office and available
for public reference which he considers to be of sufficient interest to warrant
their publication.
Copyright
16.-(1)
Nothing in this Act shall derogate from any provision of the law relating to
copyright in relation to anything contained in any
public records deposited in
the Archives office under the provisions of this
Act.
(2) Where any person
publishes any work containing any passage from any public record deposited in
the Archives office, he shall in
that publication acknowledge the source from
which that passage is taken.
PART IV-MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Archives office seal
17.
The Archivist shall cause to be made a seal for the Archives office, with which
all certified copies issuing out of the office shall
be sealed.
Certified copies
18.
Any copy of any public record of Fiji in the custody of the Archivist which is
certified by the Archivist to be a true copy of such
public record shall be
received as evidence of the contents of such record in all courts of law within
Fiji.
Regulations
19.-(1)
Subject to the provisions of subsection (2), the Minister may, from time to
time, make regulations for any purpose for which
regulations are contemplated by
this Act and all such other regulations as may in his opinion be necessary or
expedient for giving
effect to the provisions of this Act and for the due
administration thereof and without limiting the generality of the foregoing,
may
make regulations-
(a) regulating the transfer of public records from any Government office to the Archives office or any record centre or other repository which may be established for the purposes of this Act;
(b) regulating the manner of destruction or other disposal of valueless public records;
(c) regulating the admission of the public to the Archives office and the use by the public of public records of Fiji deposited in the Archives office;
(d) providing for the custody and preservation of records deposited in the Archives office under the provisions of subsection (3) of section 4 and prescribing the fees (if any) to be charged for that custody and preservation.
(2)
The Chief Justice may make rules of court with regard to matters referred to in
paragraph
(a),
(b)
or
(c)
of subsection (1) in cases where the public documents concerned relate to
proceedings in any court.
Offences and penalties
20.-(1)
Every person shall commit an offence against this Act who-
(a) wilfully or negligently damages any public records; or
(b) wilfully or negligently disposes of or destroys any public records otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Act; or
(c) does any act in contravention of or fails to comply with any provision of this Act.
(2)
Every person who commits an offence against this Act shall be liable on
conviction to a fine not exceeding two hundred
dollars.
(3) The court by which
any person is convicted of an offence against paragraph
(a)
or paragraph
(b)
of subsection (1) may, in addition to any penalty imposed for the offence,
direct that that person shall not be entitled to have
access to the Archives
office for such period as the court thinks fit.
Controlled by the Ministry of Information
------------------------------------
SUBSIDIARY
LEGISLATION
CHAPTER
108
PUBLIC
RECORDS
_______
SECTION 19-PUBLIC RECORDS (ACCESS) REGULATIONS
Regulations 14th April, 1970
Made by the Governor
Short title
1. These Regulations may
be cited as the Public Records (Access) Regulations.
Records available for public inspection
2. Subject to the
provisions of these Regulations and any other, written law, public records
deposited in the Archives office-
(a) which have been in existence for a period of not less than 30 years; or
(b) the contents of which have at any time been published or otherwise wholly disclosed to the public or which are available in the form of either originals or copies in the Public Record Office in London,
shall
be available for public inspection.
Open and closed records
3.-(1) Records which are
available for public inspection under the provisions of regulation 2 are
hereinafter referred to as open
records and those public records which are not
so available for public inspection are hereinafter referred to as closed
records.
(2) The Archivist may,
upon receiving special authority in that behalf from the Minister, permit any
person to inspect closed
records.
(3) Persons permitted to
inspect closed records may be required to sign an undertaking in the form
prescribed in the Schedule.
(4)
Where open records are bound, sewn, stapled or otherwise attached to closed
records so as thereby to form a bound volume, file
or other such compilation,
the whole of the records contained in such bound volume, file or compilation
shall be deemed to be closed
records.
Application to inspect records
4.-(1) Subject to the
provisions of paragraph (4), any person wishing to inspect public records in the
Archives office shall apply
in writing to the Archivist staling the purpose for
which he requires access and the general nature of the records which he wishes
to inspect.
(2) Each application
made under the provisions of paragraph (1) shall be accompanied by a reference
from the institution to which
the applicant is attached, or, where the applicant
is not so attached to any institution, from a prominent and responsible person
resident in Fiji.
(3) Every
application accompanied by the reference referred to in paragraph (2) shall be
submitted by the Archivist to the Minister
for his consideration and the
decision of the Minister thereon shall be
final.
(4) Notwithstanding the
provisions of the preceding paragraphs, the Archivist may, in his discretion and
in accordance with general
instructions given to him by the Minister, permit
access to the public records without requiring the written application or the
reference
referred to in paragraphs (1) and (2).
Search room
5. Such public records as
are, under the provisions of the Act and of these Regulations, permitted to be
inspected shall be made available
to the public in a search room in the Archives
office.
Rules to be observed
6. All persons inspecting
public records in the Archives office shall observe the following rules and any
person failing to observe
any of such rules may be denied further admission to
the search room:-
(a) personal belongings such as bags, umbrellas and other items not reasonably required during the progress of the inspection shall be left at the entrance to the search room or in such other place as may be indicated by the officer in charge of the search room;
(b) within the search room all persons shall conduct themselves in an orderly and quiet manner;
(c) smoking, eating and drinking shall be prohibited in the search room;
(d) no document shall be written on, marked or damaged in any way;
(e) no ink, paste or any other substance which may damage documents may be introduced into the search room;
(f) only pencils or ball-point pens may be used for writing in the search room;
(g) no person shall rest the paper on which he is writing or his arm on any document belonging to the Archives office nor shall he turn any opened bound volume face downward on the table nor use any bulky object as a bookmark;
(h) any person wishing to make a tracing from any document shall use only such tracing sheet as may be supplied on request by the Archives office;
(i) no book or other document, the property of the Archives office, shall be removed from the search room without the knowledge and approval of the officer in charge thereof; and
(j) where files or collections of loose documents are produced for inspection, no person shall interfere with the existing sequence of the documents contained in such files or collections.
SCHEDULE
GOVERNMENT
OF FIJI
UNDERTAKING
GIVEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH PARAGRAPH (3)
OF
REGULATION 3 OF
THE PUBLIC RECORDS (ACCESS) REGULATIONS
I agree, before I am
granted access to closed records of the Government of Fiji in the Archives
office to submit to the Minister for
inspection, if required, any work which I
intend to publish or otherwise make available to the public and for which I have
used such
records and I also agree to eliminate any matter which the Minister
may consider inexpedient to publish or otherwise make available
to the
public.
It is understood that these
conditions do not apply to any conclusions or analysis I may draw from or make
of such
records.
........................................ .........................
Signature
of
Applicant
Date
........................................ .........................
Witness
Date
SECTION 19-PUBLIC RECORDS (COURTS) RULES
Rules 24th March, 1970, 7th June, 1976
Made by the Chief Justice
Short title
1.
These Rules may be cited as the Public Records (Courts) Rules.
Interpretation
2.
In these Rules unless the context otherwise requires-
"Magistrate" includes the Chief Magistrate;
"register" includes any abstract or other book kept for the purpose of entering therein serially the details of causes, actions and matters.
When records to be transferred to Archives, Court of Appeal
3.-(1)
Public documents, other than registers, relating to proceedings in the Fiji
Court of Appeal shall, except where the Archivist
has authorised their immediate
destruction under the provisions of section 13 of the Act, be transferred from
the registry of the
said Court to the Archives office within a period of 6
months after the expiry of 3 years from the date on which the judgment of
the
court was delivered in the proceedings to which they relate or, if the appeal
has been discontinued, from the date on which notice
of discontinuance of the
appeal was given.
(2) Registers of
proceedings in the Fiji Court of Appeal shall be transferred to the Archives
office within 6 months of the expiry
of a period of 15 years after the last
entry therein.
When records to be transferred to Archives, Supreme Court
4.-(1)
Public documents, other than registers, relating to proceedings in the Supreme
Court shall, except where the Archivist has authorised
their immediate
destruction under the provisions of section 13 of the Act, be removed from the
registry of the said Court to the
Archives office as follows:-
(a) in the case of appeals dealt with by the Supreme Court in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction, within a period of 6 months from the expiry of 3 years from the date on which the judgment of the court was delivered or, if the appeal was discontinued, the date on which notice of discontinuance of the appeal was given;
(b) in the case of criminal causes dealt with by the Supreme Court in exercise of its original jurisdiction within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date on which the judgment of the court was given or, if the proceedings were discontinued, from the date on which they were discontinued;
(c) in the case of actions dealt with by the Supreme Court in exercise of its matrimonial causes jurisdiction within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date on which the decree became absolute or other final order was made:
Provided that where an order for maintenance has been made the documents shall be retained in the registry of the said Court and not transferred to the Archives office until the order has either lapsed or been revoked, annulled, quashed or set aside;
(d) in the case of actions dealt with by the Supreme Court in exercise of its probate jurisdiction, within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date of judgment or other final order;
(e) in the case of non-contentious matters dealt with by the Supreme Court in the exercise of its probate jurisdiction, within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date of the grant of probate or letters of administration or, if no grant was made, from the date on which the application was discontinued;
(f) in the case of bankruptcy matters dealt with by the Supreme Court in the exercise of its bankruptcy jurisdiction, within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the death or discharge of the bankrupt or, if no order of adjudication was made, from the date of the order dismissing the petition;
(g) in the case of proceedings dealt with by the Supreme Court in the exercise of its admiralty jurisdiction, within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date of judgment or other final order;
(h) in the case of all other civil actions and matters dealt with by the Supreme Court within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years the date of judgment or other final order.
(2)
Registers relating to proceedings in the Supreme Court shall be transferred to
the Archives office within a period of 6 months
of the expiry of 15 years from
the date of the last entry therein.
When records to be transferred to Archives, Magistrates' Courts
5.-(1)
Public documents and registers relating to proceedings in Magistrates' Courts
shall, except where the Archivist has authorised
their immediate destruction
under the provisions of section 13 of the Act, be transferred from the offices
of the said Magistrates'
Courts to the Archives office as
follows:-
(a) in respect of criminal cases within a period of 6 months after the expiry of years from the date of the judgment or final order:
Provided that where a fine has been imposed and remains unpaid or a committal warrant has been issued but has not been executed, the documents relating to that case shall for the time being remain in the office of the said Magistrates' Court and not be transferred to the Archives office;
(b) in the case of matrimonial cases within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date of the decree nisi or other final order:
Provided that where an order for payment of maintenance has been made the documents shall remain in the court office and not be transferred to the Archives office until the order has either lapsed or been revoked, annulled, quashed or set aside;
(c) in the case of proceedings under the Maintenance and Affiliation Act, the Maintenance Orders (Facilities for Enforcement) Act or any Act repealing and replacing any of such Acts, within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date of judgment or other final order:
Provided that where an order for maintenance has been made the documents shall remain in the court office and not be transferred to the Archives office until the order has either lapsed or been revoked, annulled, quashed or set aside;
(Cap. 52. Cap. 54.)
(d) in the case of civil causes and matters, other than appeals from third class Magistrates and other tribunals, within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 6 years from the date of judgment or other final order;
(e) in the case of appeals dealt with by a Magistrate's Court within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date on which the judgment was delivered or, if the appeal was discontinued, notice of discontinuance was given.
(Amended by Rules 7th June, 1976)
(2)
Registers relating to proceedings in Magistrates' Courts shall be transferred to
the Archives office as follows:-
(a) where they relate to criminal causes, within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 3 years from the date of the latest entry made therein before completion;
(b) where they relate to civil actions and matters and civil appeals dealt with in those courts, within a period of 6 months after the expiry of 10 years from the date of the last entry therein;
(c) in the case of proceedings referred to in sub-paragraphs (b) and (c) of paragraph (1), within a period of 6 months of the expiry of 15 years after the date of the latest entry made therein before completion.
Inspection of records
6.-(1)
Save by special direction of the Chief Justice, the public shall not be admitted
to inspect public records relating to proceedings
in any court except as
provided for in these Rules and any other written
law.
(2) Any person seeking
admission to inspect public documents relating to proceedings in any court which
have not yet been transferred
to the Archives office shall make written
application to do so-
(a) in the case of documents relating to proceedings in the Fiji Court of Appeal, to the Registrar of the Fiji Court of Appeal;
(b) in the case of documents relating to proceedings in the Supreme Court, to the Chief Registrar;
(c) in the case of documents relating to proceedings in any Magistrate's Court to the Chief Registrar or the Magistrate for the time being in charge of that court.
(3)
Where the Registrar, Chief Registrar or Magistrate, as the case may be, is
satisfied that any applicant has a proper interest
in the document which he
seeks to inspect, he may authorize him in writing to be admitted to inspect such
document.
(4) Where authority has
been given under this rule for any person to be admitted to inspect any public
document relating to proceedings
in any court the officer granting the authority
shall, if the document has been transferred to the Archives office, obtain the
record
from the Archives office and shall retain it in his custody for such time
as it is required for such inspection and shall thereafter
return it forthwith
to the Archives office.
(5) No
person to whom authority has been given under this rule to be admitted to
inspect any document relating to proceedings in any
court shall be permitted to
have access to the document except in the presence of the officer granting the
authority or such other
public officer as he shall nominate.
Inspection for research purposes
7.-(1)
Where any person seeks admission for the purpose of academic research or study
or for some similar purpose to inspect public
documents relating to the
proceedings in any court which have been transferred to the Archives office, he
shall, subject to the provisions
of paragraph (4), apply in writing to the
Archivist staling the purpose for which he requires access and the general
nature of the
records which he wishes to
inspect.
(2) Every application
made under the provisions of paragraph (1) shall be accompanied by a reference
from the institution to which
the applicant is attached or, where the applicant
is not attached to any institution, from a prominent and responsible person
resident
in Fiji.
(3) Every
application accompanied by the reference referred to in paragraph (2) shall be
submitted by the Archivist to the Chief Registrar
for consideration by the Chief
Justice and the decision of the Chief Justice thereon shall be
final.
(4) Notwithstanding the
provisions of the preceding paragraphs, the Archivist may, in his discretion and
in accordance with general
instructions given to him by the Chief Registrar on
the directions of the Chief Justice permit access to public documents relating
to proceedings in any court without requiring the written application or the
reference referred to in paragraphs (1) and
(2).
(5) Where permission has been
given under the provisions of this rule to inspect any public document relating
to proceedings of any
court the document shall be made available for inspection
in a search room at the Archives office and the provisions of regulation
6 of
the Public Records (Access) Regulations shall apply to such
inspection.
Undertakings
8.
Where any person is permitted under either of rules 6 or 7 to inspect any public
document relating to proceedings in any court such
permission may be made
conditional on such person entering into a written undertaking in the form
prescribed in the Second Schedule.
Destruction of records
9.-(1)
Where the Archivist has authorized the immediate destruction of any public
documents under the provisions of section 13 of the
Act, the documents shall be
destroyed by burning under the directions of:-
(a) in the case of documents relating to proceedings in the Fiji Court of Appeal, the Registrar of the Fiji Court of Appeal;
(b) in the case of documents relating to proceedings in the Supreme Court, the Chief Registrar;
(c) in the case of documents relating to proceedings in any Magistrate's Court, the Magistrate for the time being in charge of that court,
and
under the supervision of any public officer nominated in writing by the
Registrar, Chief Registrar or Magistrate, as the case
may
be.
(2) Upon completion of the
destruction of any document the officer nominated to supervise its destruction
shall make out and sign
a certificate in the form prescribed in the First
Schedule, the original of that certificate shall be sent to the Archives office
and a carbon copy retained in the court concerned.
FIRST
SCHEDULE
(Rule
9
(2))
_______
CERTIFICATE OF DESTRUCTION
I, (name) , (rank)
of
having
been
nominated to do so by
, hereby certify
that I have this day destroyed
by
burning the following public
documents:-
Dated this day of
, 19 .
(Signed)
SECOND
SCHEDULE
_______
GOVERNMENT
OF FIJI
_______
UNDERTAKING
GIVEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH RULE 9 OF
THE
PUBLIC RECORDS
(COURTS) RULES
I undertake that, if I am
granted access to records relating to the proceedings of any court in Fiji, I
shall submit to the Chief
Registrar of the Supreme Court for inspection, if
required, any work which I intend to publish or otherwise make available to the
public and for which I have used such records and I also undertake to eliminate
from such work any part of the said record, or any
account of the contents of
the said record, wholly or in part, which the Chief Justice may consider it
undesirable or inexpedient
to publish or otherwise make available to the
public.
It is agreed that these
undertakings do not apply to any statistics which I may make from inspection of
such records. It is also understood
that these undertakings do not apply to any
conclusions I may draw from or make of such
records.
.....................................
Date
...........................
Signature
of
Applicant
Witness......................
Date
............................
Controlled by the Ministry of Information
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