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M-727

Document		M-727


Institution/HIC		Halton Regional Police Services Board


Summary		NATURE OF THE APPEAL: The Halton Regional Police Services Board (the Police) received a request under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (the Act ). The request was submitted by counsel on behalf of her client and was for access to a copy of the Police notes and any other information related to the death of her client's husband (the deceased). The deceased died in 1992. The Police responded to the request by advising counsel that, in this situation, the records could only be accessed by an individual who satisfied the conditions in section 54(a) of the Act as a personal representative of the deceased. The Police concluded that counsel's client did not satisfy these conditions. Accordingly, the Police issued a decision denying access to the responsive records on the basis of the following exemptions contained in the Act : law enforcement report - section 8(2)(a) invasion of privacy - section 14(1) Counsel filed an appeal of the denial of access. During mediation, counsel indicated that she was not seeking access to the personal information of any individuals other than the deceased. The Police released information relating to her client. Therefore, the information which remains at issue is that related to the deceased as found in portions of the Homicide and Sudden Death Report and the police officer's notebook, and the Identification Bureau Report in its entirety. A Notice of Inquiry was sent to the Police and counsel. Representations were received from both parties. DISCUSSION: RIGHT OF ACCESS OF A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE Section 54(a) may permit a deceased individual's personal representative to exercise a power or right of the deceased individual under the Act . This section states: Any right or power conferred on an individual by this Act may be exercised, if the individual is deceased, by the individual's personal representative if exercise of the right or power relates to the administration of the individual's estate; Since individuals may have a greater right to receive records containing their own personal information than other individuals would have to that information, and since it appears that the records contain a great deal of personal information pertaining to the deceased, counsel's ability to obtain this information could be enhanced by section 54(a), if it applies to her client. Under section 54(a), the client would be able to exercise her husband's right to request and be granted access to his personal information if she is able: 1. to demonstrate that she is the deceased's "personal representative" and 2. to demonstrate that her request for access "relates to the administration of the deceased's estate". In her representations, counsel states that her client has been appointed as the administratrix of the estate of the deceased. She has attached a true copy of the Letters of Administration issued to her client on December 8, 1994. An individual who is the administratrix of an estate is the "personal representative" of the deceased for the purposes of section 54(a) of the Act (Order P-294). Thus, the first criterion for the application of section 54(a) has been satisfied. Therefore, the issue in this appeal is whether the request for access constitutes the exercise of a right or power "relating to the administration of the deceased's estate". In Order P-1027, Inquiry Officer Donald Hale considered the provisions of section 66(a) of the provincial Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act , the equivalent of section 54(a) of the Act , and, inter alia , expanded the meaning of the phrase "relates to the administration of the deceased's estate", as compared to the interpretation of this phrase in previous orders. Inquiry Officer Hale concluded that this second criterion could be met if "granting access to the requested records would enable the deceased's personal representative to make an informed decision about matters which relate to the estate". Previous orders had interpreted the phrase "relates to the administration of the deceased's estate" more narrowly. In her submissions, counsel reiterates that her client was the wife of the deceased, mother of his children and that, considering that she is the administratrix of the estate, "... she has a right as a personal representative of the Estate to obtain the documentation and information stated herein as it relates to the administration of [the deceased's] Estate". In my view, these submissions do not support a finding that her client requires the requested information "to make an informed decision about matters which relate to the estate". Counsel has indicated that her client is currently engaged in a civil law suit against third parties but I have not been provided with any information concerning this matter and, in particular, whether it relates in any way to the estate and/or the information contained in the records at issue. Therefore, although I sympathize with the client's position, I find that she has not demonstrated that her request for access "relates to the administration of the deceased's estate". Accordingly, section 54(a) does not apply in the circumstances of this appeal. INVASION OF PRIVACY Under section 2(1) of the Act , "personal information" is defined, in part, to mean recorded information about an identifiable individual, and the individual's name where it appears with other personal information relating to the individual or where the disclosure of the name would reveal other personal information about the individual. The information which has not been disclosed relates to the deceased and two other individuals. It documents the events relating to the death of the deceased and the Police investigation which followed. I find that the records contain the personal information of the deceased and the two other individuals. As I have indicated previously, it is only the personal information of the deceased that remains at issue. Once it has been determined that a record contains personal information, section 14(1) of the Act prohibits the disclosure of this information except in certain circumstances. Sections 14(2), (3) and (4) of the Act provide guidance in determining whether discl


Legislation		MFIPPA 14(2)(d) 14(3)(b) 54(a)


Subject Index		administration of estate


Published		Mar 08, 1996


Type		Order


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