Верховный суд Тринидада отказал разведывательному агентству SSA в доступе к информации через закон о свободе информации

Senior Reporter [email protected] The Strategic Services Agency (SSA) has lost its case seeking disclosure of information on a terminated worker from the Ministry of Labour. On Monday, High Court Judge Robin Mohammed dismissed the SSA’s case, which sought to utilise the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). Justice Mohammed ruled that the clandestine intelligence-gathering agency could not utilise the legislation, which is intended to give members of the public access to information and documents held by public authorities or agencies. “The SSA cannot rely on the FOIA to challenge the Minister’s refusal to disclose information because the SSA is not a ‘person’ within the meaning of the FOIA,” Justice Mohammed said. “The SSA is not a member of the public, it is part of the Government itself,” he added. The case was indirectly related to a former SSA employee who was summarily dismissed in October 2018. Almost a year later, the president of the Advocate Trade Union wrote to the Minister of Labour seeking an extension of time to properly report the dispute over the worker’s dismissal. The SSA was informed about the request and objected on the basis that the worker was not in “good standing” with the union and had deliberately chosen to pursue litigation over his dismissal before the High Court instead of initiating the process before the minister, which is required for the matter to be considered by the Industrial Court. The extension was eventually granted, and the SSA sought disclosure of the minister’s reasons but received only some of the information it had requested. The SSA subsequently filed the case, claiming that the ministry had mishandled its request for disclosure under the FOIA. In response, the ministry questioned the SSA’s ability to utilise the FOIA to seek the information. In determining the case, Justice Mohammed ruled that the fact that the SSA was previously subject to the FOIA was irrelevant. “The FOIA imposes obligations on public authorities to provide information to members of the public. It does not confer rights on public authorities to obtain information from other public authorities,” Justice Mohammed said. As part of his decision, Justice Mohammed ordered the SSA to pay the ministry’s legal costs. The SSA was represented by Tracey Vidale and Keisha Peters. Randall Hector led its legal team before he was murdered while the case was pending on December 31, 2024. The ministry was represented by Anthony Bullock, Vandana Ramadhar and Rachel Wright.