Section 107Part 17 — Miscellaneous provisions
Confidentiality
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Subject to subsection (9), the Office shall not be required to publish or otherwise divulge information which is given in confidence to the Office and which, in the case of a document, is marked "Confidential" by the person giving the document.
Any person submitting information to the Office may request that the Office treat such information as confidential.
The Office shall grant a request to treat information as confidential if the Office concludes that the information is —
a trade secret of any person;
information, the commercial value of which would be, or could reasonably be expected to be, destroyed or diminished by disclosure;
other information, the disclosure of which would have, or could reasonably be expected to have, an adverse effect on the commercial interests of any person to whom the information relates;
information —
that is given to the Office by a third party (other than another sectoral utility) in confidence on the understanding that it would be treated as confidential; and
the disclosure of which would be likely to prevent the Office from receiving further similar information required by the Office to properly fulfil its functions; or
information, the disclosure of which would constitute a breach of a duty of confidence provided for by a provision of a Law.
A person claiming confidentiality in respect of any information submitted to the Office shall provide —
a full justification for its claim; and
a version of such information without the confidential provisions and in a form that may be made available to the public.
Following receipt of any information submitted subject to a request for confidential treatment, the Office shall issue a decision as to whether the justification offered by the submitting party meets the standard for confidential treatment specified in subsection (3).
If the Office concludes that the justification offered by the submitting party meets the standard for confidential treatment, the Office shall issue an order granting the request.
In any case in which the Office grants a request for confidential treatment, the information may only be disclosed —
to the Minister;
to the Minister responsible for the sector to which the confidential information is relevant;
to the Members;
to the staff;
to a court; or
where necessary to conduct a public consultation, to specific parties pursuant to a non-disclosure agreement.
If the Office concludes that the justification offered by the submitting party does not meet the standard for confidential treatment, the Office shall —
issue an order denying the request; and
either —
return the information to the submitting party, in which case the Office shall not consider or rely on the information; or
after providing the submitting party with notice and an opportunity to comment, disclose the information, if doing so would be in the public interest.
Nothing in this Act, any sectoral legislation or the regulations shall limit the Office's duty to provide information to a court.
Nothing in this Act or the regulations shall require a person to produce or disclose a communication —
which is —
between a professional legal adviser and the professional legal adviser's client; or
made in connection with, or in contemplation of, legal proceedings and for the purposes of those proceedings; and
which in proceedings in a court would be protected from disclosure on grounds of legal professional privilege.
Defined Terms
confidentialtrade secret