The
Freedom of Information Act
The
Freedom of Information Act (Cap. 496) aims to establish a right to information
held by public authorities in order to promote transparency and accountability
in Government.
In terms
of article 17(1) of the Freedom of Information Act, every relevant public
authority shall publish information describing the authority's structure,
functions and responsibilities together with a general description of the
categories of documents held by it, and a description of all manuals and
similar types of documents which contain policies, principles, rules or
guidelines in accordance with which decisions or recommendations are made in
respect of members of the public.
Structure,
Functions and Responsibilities of the Department of Contracts
The
Department of Contracts falls within the portfolio of the Ministry for Finance and Employment
(MFE). The principal mission of the Department is to have the necessary
administrative structures in place so that public procurement is carried out on
the principles of fairness, transparency and non-discrimination between
economic operators. The aims, objectives and responsibilities of the Department
are set out in the Public Contracts Regulations, Subsidiary Legislation 174.04.
The Department is headed by the Director General (Contracts), who oversees three
directorates headed by the Director (Policy Development and Programme
Implementation), the Director (Administration) and the Director (Operations).
The Directorates are complemented by a number of Senior Managers responsible
for pre-contract matters, post-contract matters, policy and support services
which in turn are supported by a number of middle management positions.
General
description of the categories of documents held
The
Department of Contracts holds documents falling under the following categories:
- Documents relating to the
issuance of new calls for tenders
- Tender Document and
Evaluation Report templates
- Tender Documents
- Schedules of Tenders
Received
- Bid Documentation submitted
by tenderers
- Evaluation Reports
- Minutes of Meetings of the
workings of the General Contracts Committee
- Award Recommendations
- Notices and Letters of
Objection in terms of Legal Notice 296 of 2010
- Contracts and addenda
- Tender Guarantees
- Contract Completion Reports
- Official Journal of the EU
Forms (such as Contract Notice and Contract Award Notice)
- Annual Reports on the
workings of the Department of Contracts
- Personal files of employees
of the Department
Description
of all manuals and similar types of documents
The
Department of Contracts, within the Ministry for Finance and Employment, holds the following
documents, in accordance with which, decisions or recommendations by
Adjudication Committees are made:
- Contracts Circulars
- GCC Recommendations
- Manual for Evaluation
Committees
- Procurement Policy Notes
- Workings of the General Contracts Committee (GCC)
Details
of Internal Complaints Procedure
An applicant whose request for information is
refused, or who is otherwise not satisfied with the information provided, its
format or the extension of the deadline for the submission of the notification
indicating whether a request would be met or not, may address a complaint to
the Department of Contracts.
The complaint should be addressed to the
Department’s FOI Officer, who shall bring the complaint to the attention of the
Director General (Contracts). The officer responsible shall reply to the
applicant within 10 working days from the receipt of the complaint. The
applicant shall also be informed that he or she may appeal the decision or
otherwise address a complaint to the Information and Data Protection
Commissioner in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act (Cap. 496 of the
Laws of Malta).
The officer responsible shall inform the applicant
of the decision taken with respect to his or her complaint, and in the event of
confirmation of a decision not to release the pertinent information, shall
explain the reasons thereof. Whenever the applicant’s complaint is related to
the format of the information provided or to an extension of the deadline for
the submission of the notification indicating whether a request would be met or
not by the Department, and the original decision is upheld, the applicant shall
be given an explanation as to why his or her complaint cannot be positively
addressed.
Other Information
Emails will be acknowledged by not later than the next working day. The Front Office of the Department is open as follows:
Winter (1st October – 15th June) –
8.30am to 2.00pm
Summer (16th June – 30th September) – 8.30am to 1.30pm
Forms may be downloaded from the website
(www.contracts.gov.mt).
Contact
Details
The
Department of Contracts is situated at Notre Dame Ravelin, FLORIANA
FRN 1600, (MALTA) and the Freedom of Information Officer and the alternate
Freedom of Information Officer for the department may be contacted on +356
21220212, by email on:
foi.contracts@gov.mt
or through:
Contact Us
on the Department's website:
http://www.contracts.gov.mt/