A Court of Appeal Judge, Dennis Dominic Adjei, has said regarding the Right to Information (RTI) Law that the fees to be paid by an applicant who applies to access information for public consumption is unreasonable.
He said the provision of payment of fees should be repealed.
A person who legitimately requires information but cannot pay for the prescribed fee would be denied of his fundamental right to obtain information, he said.
Delivering the 2022 annual lecture on Humanities on the topic: “the parameters and impact of the Right to Information in Ghana” at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences on Thursday May 5, he said in this democratic regime, information should not be sold by the public to a person who requires it for educational or other purposes.
“The judicial review applications brought against the decision of the information officer or head of an institution should not attract the same filing fees which are paid in judicial review applications as it may deter persons with legitimate interest from pursuing such applications for the benefit of the public.
“Furthermore, cost should not be awarded in those cases against an appellant where the application for judicial review is refused by reason of its fundamental human rights nature.
“The education on the Right to Information Act, 2019 (Act 989) should be promoted to encourage people to make use of the Act to deepen democracy.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana