What’s New
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6 November 2012
Argentina Joins OGP, Becomes 58th Member
Argentina has committed to join the Open Government Partnership, bringing OGP membership to 58. A short notice posted on the OGP website Nov. 6 links to the brief letter dated Oct. 29 from the Argentine government. Argentina will become the 58th country to participate in OGP, and the 14th from Latin America. “OGP welcomes Argentina’s […]
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6 November 2012
Indian CIC Orders Agency to Disclose Corruption Files
India’s chief information commissioner, Satyendra Mishra, has ruled that even an agency exempt from the right to information law may not withhold information related to corruption by public officials or human rights violations. In his Nov. 2 order, Mishra mandated the Central Bureau of Information to provide requested information, subject to RTI Act exemptions, according […]
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6 November 2012
Argentinian President Issues Declassification Decree
Argentina’s President Cristina Kirchner has issued a decree declassifying decrees and resolutions that had been kept secret in the past, but with exceptions. The Oct. 31 decree says disclosure will not occur if the decrees or resolutions relate to national security, homeland security, foreign relations, conflicts with other states and military conflicts in the South […]
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2 November 2012
Indian Cabinet Withdraws Controversial RTI Proposal
The Indian Cabinet Nov. 1 pulled back from a six-year-old proposal to dilute the Right to Information Act. The action was a relief to activists. The main effect of the changes, planned back in 2006, would have been to restrict access to “file notings” – documents in which officials make comments about proposed policies. Withdrawing […]
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2 November 2012
Ghana Parliament Adjourns Without Passing FOI Law
Ghana recently held public meetings on its overdue national action plan as a member of the Open Government Partnership and is nearing creation of an open data portal, but parliament just adjourned without fulfilling the promise of the ruling party to pass a right to information law. The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Ghana’s new president and […]
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2 November 2012
Scottish Committee Rejects Government FOI Proposals
A Scottish Parliament committee has asked the government to drop a proposed exemption for the British royalty from the freedom of information law and to consider bringing private organizations performing public functions under the act. The Nov. 1 report and press release by the Finance Committee was welcomed by the Campaign for Freedom of Information […]
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2 November 2012
FOI Notes: MENA Newsletter, Funding, Conference Videos
MENA Newsletter: Newsletter #5 of the Regional Dialogue on Access to Information in the Middle East and North Africa contains a summary of the activities that stakeholders in Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Tunisia on access to information. It also includes three guest columns on the history of the International Right to Know Day, how other […]
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2 November 2012
South African Minister Opposes Secrecy Bill Changes
South African State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele Oct. 31 opposed several amendments made to the Protection of State Information Bill that critics have said were improvements to a still flawed bill. He called for the parliamentary committee working on the bill to reinstate a five-year prison sentence for those who disclose classified information. Cwele also […]
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2 November 2012
Hawke to Eye Australian FOI Act, Attorney General Says
The Australian government Oct. 31 announced a review of the 1982 Freedom of Information Act. The Attorney General named an experienced government official to conduct the inquiry, Allan Hawke. Hawke’s background and the announcement are discussed in a posting by FOI blogger Peter Timmins. The review is to explore whether the law continues to “provide […]
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1 November 2012
Liberian FOI Law Backed; Sirleaf Order Criticized
As an U.S. backed effort continued to support Liberia in implementing its new freedom of information law, a Liberian group has said the Liberian president is undercutting the law. The Carter Center, with support from the United States Agency for International Development, held a conference as part of a project to raise the awareness of […]
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1 November 2012
Peruvian Group Forms to Monitor OGP Efforts
The Working Group of the Alliance for Open Government in Peru on Oct. 25 announced the creation of a matrix of indicators to assist in monitoring the implementation of the national action plan the Peruvian government created as a member of the Open Government Partnership. The membership of the working group includes members from the […]
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31 October 2012
OGP Selects Linda Frey to Be New Executive Director
The Open Government Partnership Oct. 31 announced that Linda Frey of the Hewlett Foundation will be the new OGP Executive Director. The same announcement also says Joseph Foti is the OGP’s Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) Program Manager. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Further expansion is in the offing. Job postings are now on the OGP website for […]
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30 October 2012
Measuring Openness: A survey of transparency ratings and the prospects for a global index
By Sheila S. Coronel This report by Columbia University journalism professor Coronel was supported by the Open Society Foundations, Right to Information Fund. We are in the midst of an explosion in the measurement of government openness and the accessibility of information to the public. This is due largely to the growing interest worldwide in […]
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29 October 2012
Making Government Kiosks Hubs for RTI
By Osama Manzar Osama Manzar is founder-director of Digital Empowerment Foundation and chairman of the Manthan Award. He is a member of the working group for Internet proliferation and governance, ministry of communications and information technology. Follow him on Twitter @osamamanzar. There is only one way India can become a leading country in the 21st […]
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29 October 2012
Peru’s Council of Ministers Restrict Access to Documents
Peru’s Council of Ministers has restricted access to documents produced as part of the deliberative process prior to a governmental decision-making, including its agenda. The Council of Ministries’ resolution (in Spanish) regulates one of the exceptions to the right of access to information established in the FOI and Transparency Act. Article 17, clause 1 establishes […]
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29 October 2012
Jordan Council Approves Modifications to FOI Law
By Yahia Shukkeir This article is reprinted with permission from the October edition of a newsletter on access to information in the Middle East published by the World Bank Institute. In early September, the Jordan Council of Ministers approved a draft law modifying the 2007 Right to Information Act. This draft law comes after a […]
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29 October 2012
Group Assessed Costs for Failed Request in Spain
Access Info Europe has been ordered to pay €3,000 to the Spanish government after unsuccessfully seeking information for certain Ministry of Justice reports. The Spanish Supreme Court ruled that the NGO has not right to ask for such information, requested an Access Info Europe board member in 2007. The request was for Ministry of Justice […]
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29 October 2012
Zambian Activist Still Optimistic About Legislation
A leading activist for freedom of information in Zambia has said he remains optimistic that the Patriotic Front (PF) Government will propose a promised FOI bill. Media Institute of Southern Africa (Zambia) Chapter acting chairperson Nalumino Nalumino made his comment in an interview Oct. 26 with the Times of Zambia. Nalumino was speaking during the […]
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29 October 2012
FOI Notes: RTI Ratings, Videos, Reports, Interviews
RTI Ratings: Access Info Europe (AIE) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) have launched an improved version of the RTI Rating website. The new website contains updated results on all 93 countries with national right to information laws, searchable on various parameters, including total score and score in each category of the RTI […]
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29 October 2012
OGP May Modify Selection Plan for CSO Leadership
The Open Government Partnership is considering a substantially simplified system for selecting new civil society members for the OGP Steering Committee. Instead of planned elections, the OGP has proposed creating a selection committee to pick new members. Public comments on the plan were requested in an OGP Twitter message that announced the “rotation note” proposal. […]