Report of the Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development on the Draft Rules of Procedure for Applications to Court in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act No 2 of 2000), dated 19 November 2008:

The Portfolio Committee on Justice and Constitutional Development, having considered the Draft Rules of Procedure for Applications to Court in terms of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (Act No 2 of 2000), referred to the Committee (Announcements, Tablings and Committee Reports, 7 April 2008, p 537), recommends that the Draft Rules be approved.

The Committee, however, wishes to make the following additional comments:

These Rules have been outstanding for some time and the Committee finds this regrettable, as the absence of these Rules impacts on the effective implementation of the Promotion of Access to Information Act; an Act which lies at the heart of our constitutional democracy.

The Committee is also of the view that the consultation process between the Rules Board and various stakeholders could have been more comprehensive. For that reason, the Committee will forward the 4 submissions received (from ODAC, the South African Human Rights Commission, Eskom and the South African History Archive) to the Rules Board for its attention.

Given the importance of these Rules and the issues raised in the various submissions, the Committee requires that the Rules Board consider the submissions, review the content and implementation of the Rules and report back to the Committee within 6 months of the new term of Parliament in 2009.

On the procedure to be followed by the Rules Board for the amendment or approval of any Rules, the Committee would suggest that any discussions or consultation around new Rules or amendments to existing Rules should take place at an earlier stage. In other words, that the Rules Board should ideally consult various roleplayers and reach agreement with the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development before formally submitting the Rules to the Minister for approval. It would also make sense if, in future, the Committee was provided with the opportunity to comment, albeit informally, before any amendments to the Rules are tabled in Parliament for approval.

Report to be considered.