Section 3, The Right to Access Information Act, 2013

(1) A request for information under section 2 shall– (a) be made in writing; (b) describe the information requested; and (c) provide an address, which may be an email, for purposes of correspondence. (2) For the purposes of paragraph (a) of subsection (1), a request shall be deemed to be made in writing where the text of the request– (a) is transmitted by electronic means; (b) is received in legible form; and (c) is capable of being used for subsequent reference. (3) An application to access information shall be made in English or Krio by email, fax, post, telephone or by any other medium provided that the applicant provides– (a) contact details; and (b) sufficient particulars for the public information officer or any other official to understand what information is being requested. (4) A public information officer who receives an oral request shall reduce the request to writing, including the public information officer’s name and designation and shall give a copy thereof to the applicant. (5) Notwithstanding subsection (3), an application may, if the applicant is unable to communicate in English, be made in any other local language in use in Sierra Leone: and in that event the public information officer to whom the application is made shall arrange for a translation of the application into English. (6) Where a request for information does not comply with subsection (3), the public information officer who receives the request shall render such reasonable assistance, free of charge, as may be necessary to enable the request to comply with that subsection. (7) A request referred to in subsection (6) shall not be deemed to have been rejected while assistance is being rendered. (8) A public authority may determine the form for requests for information, but the form shall not be such as to unreasonably delay requests or place an undue burden upon applicants; and no application may be rejected on the ground only that the applicant has not used the prescribed form. (9) A public authority which receives a request for information shall provide the applicant with a receipt documenting the request. (10) A public authority shall record and maintain records of all requests for information and all public transactions in a manner that facilitates the right to information. Submission and form of request. 4 5