What’s New
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5 February 2014
UN Development Goals Should Stress Governance
The United Nations’ Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals should make “good governance and effective institutions” a specific goal, according to a statement signed by nearly 200 organizations from around the world. The working group now in the process of developing Post-2015 Sustainable Development was urged to: Establish a specific goal to “ensure good […]
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3 February 2014
OGP Reviewers Report; Several Countries Missing
The Open Government Partnership on Feb. 3 published on its website 19 reports by independent reviewers who evaluated countries’ progress toward fulfilling their national action plan objectives. Publication of the reports triggers a two-week public comment period, as described in a Jan. 28 blog post by OGP Deputy Director Joe Powell. A Feb. 3 blog […]
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3 February 2014
EC Finds Fault With Spain’s New Information Access Law
The European Commission Feb. 3 praised Spain for passing a law on access to public information, but said it needs improvement. In particular, independent oversight should be added, the report said, and its implementation hastened. The comments came in a wide-ranging report on Spain’s anti-corruption efforts. The law adopted in December “represents a significant step […]
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31 January 2014
Disclosure of Request Letters Handled in Different Ways
Request letters – the core instrument used to ask for government information – are themselves disclosable in many jurisdictions, but the names of the requesters are commonly kept confidential, according to a FreedomInfo.org sampling of practices in a dozen countries. Some countries make available public logs with short summaries of all requests. Such “FOI Logs” […]
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30 January 2014
Access Law Approved in Côte d’ Ivoire; 98th in World
The National Assembly of Côte d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast) voted unanimously Dec. 11 to pass a freedom of information law. (Text in French). The new law will allow citizens to be better informed and to intervene knowingly in decision making, according to comments by Minister of Communication, Affoussiata Bamba-Lamine, quoted in a short news report […]
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29 January 2014
Sufficient Number of States Support Mexican FOI Reforms
Having achieved sufficient support from the Mexican states, amendments to the Mexican Constitution making changes to the freedom of information law are another step closer to implementation. Eighteen state Congresses have ratified the reforms. The next stage, which could take a year, is for the Senate to write the implementation rules which later much be […]
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27 January 2014
Task Force Recommends Crime Victim Privacy
A Connecticut state task force Jan. 24 issued a report supporting restrictions on public access to crime scene information. The 17-person panel was formed in the wake of the 2013 shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School. The legislature subsequently passed a law that blocked release of crime scene photos and videos to the public. It […]
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27 January 2014
FOI Notes: AfDB, EU, UK, Kurdistan, Commentary
African Development Bank: The African Development Bank has called for nominations of suitably qualified individuals to serve on the Appeals Panel created by its disclosure policy. The call has been extended until Jan. 31. “The candidates should have extensive experience dealing with issues of governance, transparency, access to information and related-matters. They should have a […]
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24 January 2014
2013 – A Watershed Year for RTI Movement in Pakistan
By Zahid Abdullah Zahid Abdullah works for Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) and is also Coordinator of Coalition on Right to Information, (CRTI). 2013 will always be regarded as a watershed year for right to information movement in Pakistan. Although Pakistan was the first country in the South Asia to have introduced a […]
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22 January 2014
German Government Claims Copyright on Document
The German Ministry of the Interior has ordered a freedom of information website to take down a document obtained under the freedom of information law. Frag den Staat, a German FOI portal run by the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany, published a document on election law policy that the government now says is covered by copyright […]
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22 January 2014
FOI Notes: Research, India, Environment, UK, Employment, Commentary
Research: “When Does Transparency Generate Legitimacy? Experimenting on a Context-Bound Relationship,” by Jenny De Fine Licht, Daniel Naurin, Peter Esaiasson, Mikael Gilljam. A summary of the article: We analyze the main rationale for public administrations and political institutions for supplying transparency, namely, that it generates legitimacy for these institutions. First, we discuss different theories of decision making […]
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22 January 2014
EU Ombudsman Supports Disclosure of Legal Document
The European Ombudsman has ruled that the European Council should not have denied access to a document drawn up in the context of negotiations between EU member states with an eye to finding arrangements for ensuring compliance with the balanced budget rule contained in the Fiscal Compact Treaty. “By failing to justify why it cannot […]
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22 January 2014
ECtHR extends case law on information on health risks
By Lieselot Verdonck Lieselot is a Ph.D. candidate at the Human Rights Centre, Faculty of Law of Ghent University. More information on the author can be found here. This article first appeared Jan. 20 on the blog Strasbourg Observer, which comments on developments in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights Over […]
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20 January 2014
Philippine House Panel Not Moving on FOI Legislation
Philippine House and Senate leaders continue to promise passage of freedom of information legislation, but a key House working group appointed in October to write a bill has yet to meet and the Aquino administration is continuing its hands off support. There’s a lack of desire and commitment from the House leadership and the Committee […]
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17 January 2014
Honduran Congress Oks Strict Secrecy Law
The Honduran Congress Jan. 13 approved broad government secrecy legislation that civil society groups have denounced. A key provision of the law, states: Any information, documentation or material relating to the internal strategic framework of state agencies and whose revelation, if made publicly available, could produce undesirable institutional effects on the effective development of state policies […]
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17 January 2014
Maldives President Signs RTI Bill into Law; 99th in World
Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Jan. 11 signed into the Right to Information Act Transparency Maldives hailed the ratification of the act as “major step forward for good governance and transparency.” The parliament approved the bill (in Dhivehi) in December. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The Maldives is the 99th country in the world […]
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17 January 2014
US House Passes Bill on Presidential Records
The US House of Representatives on Jan. 14 unanimously passed a bill to ensure the timely release of presidential records and require the retention of emails. Twenty-three organizations wrote a letter of support for the bill, which is similar to legislation passed in previous years and which still needs approval from the Senate. Among other […]
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17 January 2014
Australia, India, Open Government, Commentary
Australia: The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has translated some OAIC resources into languages other than English: Arabic, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Korean, Russian, Spanish, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. India: A report in the Times of India says “government agencies have put vast amount of personal information online, often with little barrier to access and […]
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16 January 2014
Tunisia to Join OGP; Membership Now 63
Tunisia has joined the Open Government Partnership, the 63rd member. Tunisia in December published its executive budget proposal, an action that gave them two more points on OGP’s 16-point eligibility scale. Tunisia’s score of 13 is just above the necessary 12. Abderrahman Ladgham, Minister for Governance and Anti-Corruption, wrote: “Tunisia has achieved, since the revolution […]
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16 January 2014
Toward a New Culture of Information in Kurdistan
By Hiwa Osman Osman’s column appeared Jan. 14 in Rudaw. Osman is an Iraqi Kurdish journalist and columnist for Rudaw and runs the blog Thoughts from Iraq. While many of us are busy with the case of the murdered fellow journalist, Kawa Garmiyani, we are overlooking something as important as that case: The right of […]