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 (5) The responsible Minister of an agency may, either generally or as otherwise provided by the instrument of delegation, by writing signed by him, delegate to the principal officer of the agency his powers under this section in respect of documents of the agency.

(6) A power delegated under sub-section (5), when exercised by the delegate, shall, for the purposes of this Act, be deemed to have been exercised by the responsible Minister.

(7) A delegation under sub-section (5) does not prevent the exercise of a power by the responsible Minister.

Cabinet documents

34. (1) A document is an exempt document if it is—


 * (a) a document that has been submitted to the Cabinet for its consideration or is proposed by a Minister to be so submitted, being a document that was brought into existence for the purpose of submission for consideration by the Cabinet;


 * (b) an official record of the Cabinet;


 * (c) a document that is a copy of, or of a part of, or contains an extract from, a document referred to in paragraph (a) or (b); or


 * (d) a document the disclosure of which would involve the disclosure of any deliberation or decision of the Cabinet, other than a document by which a decision of the Cabinet was officially published.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a certificate signed by the Secretary to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet certifying that a document is one of a kind referred to in a paragraph of sub-section (1) establishes conclusively, subject to the operation of Part VI, that it is an exempt document of that kind.

(3) Where a document is a document referred to in paragraph (1) (c) or (d) by reason only of matter contained in a particular part or particular parts of the document, a certificate under sub-section (2) in respect of the document shall identify that part or those parts of the document as containing the matter by reason of which the certificate is given.

(4) For the purposes of this Act, a certificate signed by the Secretary to the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet certifying that a document as described in a request would, if it existed, be one of a kind referred to in a paragraph of sub-section (1) establishes conclusively, subject to the operation of Part VI, that, if such a document exists, it is an exempt document of that kind.

(5) Where a certificate in accordance with sub-section (4) has been signed in respect of a document as described in a request, the decision on the request may be a decision that access to a document as described in the request is refused on the ground that, if such a document existed, it would be an exempt document referred to in the paragraph of sub-section (1) that is specified in the certificate.