What’s New
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4 April 2014
Mexican court orders a new review of massacre
By Michael Evans and Jesse Franzblau The following article was published March 28, 2014 in Migration Declassified, a project of the National Security Archive. In a case that with important ramifications both for access to information and for human rights investigations in Mexico, a federal judge declared last week that the country’s information commissioners can and should […]
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4 April 2014
Masacre de San Fernando: los familiares tienen derecho a saber por qué
Por Michael Evans y Jesse Franzblau Este artículo fue publicado 28 de marzo 2014 en Animal Político. En un caso de suma importancia con respecto al acceso a la información e investigaciones sobre derechos humanos en México, un juez federal declaró la semana pasada que los comisionados de IFAI pueden y están obligados determinar si […]
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4 April 2014
EU Parliament Votes to Release Clinical Trial Data
The European Parliament voted April 2 to make public information about clinical trials for drugs. The new law is expected to go into effect in 2016 and will affect only new clinic trials. (See Reuters .) “The vote, which confirms an informal deal reached in December between Parliament and the European Union’s 28 member states, […]
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4 April 2014
The Next FOIA Fight: The B(5) “Withhold It Because You Want To” Exemption
By Nate Jones Originally posted at the National Security Archive’s Unredacted blog on March 27, 2014. Candid remarks on b(5). Documents from The Department of State was Hiding This . Something troubling happened this Sunshine Week. At the 16th Annual National Freedom of Information Day at the Newseum’s Knight Conference Center, former White House Office of Information and Regulatory […]
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3 April 2014
African Conference Addresses FOI Implementation Issues
The following article is from the Media Rights Agenda website. A two-day Africa Regional Conference on Freedom of Information Implementation bringing together over 100 state and non-state actors from Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Uganda and Zimbabwe, was held in Abuja, Nigeria. The conference discussed and identified some emerging positive […]
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3 April 2014
FOI Notes: EU, OGP, Open Data, Journalism, Broadway
European Union: StateWatch comments on access at three EU institutions, stating: Frontex given until end of March 2014 to comply with the Ombudsman’s Recommendations to change its Management Board Decision putting into effect the Regulation on public access to EU documents Eurojust seeks to avoid any compliance until some undefined point in the future Europol […]
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3 April 2014
AIP Produces New Audit of Government Transparency
The Access to Information Progrmme in Bulgaria has released the results of its ninth audit of transparency at national and local institutions. The aim of the audit, which AIP has performed since 2006, is to evaluate how the executive bodies fulfill their obligations for proactive publication of information online under the Access to Public Information […]
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28 March 2014
Secrecy Rules in EU Despite European Court Judgment
By Staffan Dahllöf This article first appeared March 26 in Wobbing EU. EU ministers have postponed implementing a judgement on transparency and rejected disclosing alternatives discussed – and leaked. Six member states vote against secrecy. The European Ombudsman has been asked to step in. More than five months have gone since the European Court of Justice in […]
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28 March 2014
FOI Notes, EU, US, India, Africa, OGP. Open Data
European Union: Statewatch has released two analyses on secrecy in the EU. “Constructing the secret EU state” discusses “restricted” and “limited” documents hidden from view by the Council. “There were over 117,000 “RESTRICTED” documents produced or handled by the Council since 2001 but only 13,184 are listed in its public register of documents,” according to […]
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26 March 2014
Slovenia Assembly Approves Amendments to FOI Act
The Slovenian National Assembly on March 24 approved broadening the application of the Access to Public Information Act to cover private bodies performing public functions. The National Assembly’s action was the second vote for the reforms, required to override a vote against the changes by upper chamber. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The Assembly vote was unanimous, […]
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26 March 2014
UK Court Finds Common Law Right to Information
This report appeared in the Press Gazette on March 26, 2014. It is reprinted with permission. A related analysis article is here. For additional commentary, see posting by David Hart on the UK Human Rights Blog. Media lawyers have welcomed an “important development” in the right to access information from public authorities, after a seven-year legal […]
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26 March 2014
Connecticut Lawmakers Scale Back Right-to-Know Curbs
By Ed Jacovino Jacovino is a reporter with the Journal Inquirer, of Connecticut, where this article first appeared on March 25, 2014. Reprinted with permission. HARTFORD — A legislative committee on Monday balked at a measure that would have kept from the public certain crime scene photos and 911 calls, stripping several right-to-know restrictions from […]
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24 March 2014
Study Probes Commitments on FOI by OGP Members
About half of the countries in the Open Government Partnership made commitment to pass a freedom of information law or to improve an existing one, according to a new study authored by Mexico’s Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection (IFAI). The researchers found that of the 55 countries studied, 27 made FOI-related […]
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21 March 2014
Aquino Administration Backs FOI Bill, Improving Odds
The Aquino administration has endorsed a freedom of information bill, possibly improving the changes for House action, according to a March 22 article in The Philippine Star and a similar one by the Philippine News Agency. House Bill 3237 filed by Rep. Maria Leonor Robredo and Deputy Speaker Henedina Abad has the blessing of administration, […]
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21 March 2014
OGP Access Working Group Sets Work Plan for 2014
The Open Government Partnership Access to Information Working Group (ATI WG) has developed a work plan largely focused on providing help to participating governments. The work plan lists a variety of plans, including one that is apparently completed, an analysis on ATI-related commitments in OGP member’s first action plans. The study is to be placed on the group’s […]
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21 March 2014
Analysis of Oversight Mechanisms in Africa
By Gilbert Sendugwa Sendugwa is Coordinator & Head of Secretariat at the Africa Freedom of Information Centre. This analysis also is available in a Power Point version. It was presented at a regional conference on FOI implementation held March 18-19 in Abuja, Nigeria. The keynote speech was by Major General Chris Olukolde, “Protecting National Security […]
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21 March 2014
Costa Rica Creates Open Government Commission
The president of Costa Rica March 18 signed a decree designed to strengthen transparency in the government. The decree signed by President Laura Chinchilla Miranda establishes the Intersectoral Committee on Open Government with duties including to propose policies and guidelines on transparency issues. (See media report in Spanish.) The commission also is charged with promoting, […]
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21 March 2014
Hong Kong Ombudsman Calls for FOI Legislation
Hong Kong Ombudsman Alan Lai Nin has called on the authorities to introduce freedom of information legislation, but others said action in not likely. His report after a year of study includes 12 recommendations. A summary states: We find that under the purely administrative ATI regime in Hong Kong, key components of the FOI laws […]
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21 March 2014
FOI Notes: US, India, Legislative Openness, Research, More
(Ed. Note: FOI Notes is unusually U.S.-centric this week because of Sunshine Week. Send submissions for FOI Notes to freeinfo@gwu.edu) United States: “The Obama administration more often than ever censored government files or outright denied access to them last year under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, cited more legal exceptions it said justified withholding […]
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17 March 2014
OGP Redefining Standards for Suspending Members
The Open Government Partnership is developing revised criteria for disciplining member countries that don’t fulfill certain commitments. Lithuania, Malta and Turkey were the first of the 63 OGP member countries to receive warnings, but more countries could be cautioned if the OGP Steering Committee approves a new series of standards. Two warnings in a row would trigger a discussion […]