What’s New
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21 August 2014
Network Rail to Be Blocked From UK FOI
By Mathew Burgess The author writes the blog FOI Directory where this article first appeared Aug. 15. Since publication, the Train Drivers’ Union issued a statement. Network Rail is due to be reclassified as a public body on 1st September however it is being reported that David Cameron will block its inclusion in the Freedom […]
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20 August 2014
How Serious Were Japan’s Information Leaks?
By Lawrence Repeta The author teaches law at Meiji University and is a regular FreedomInfo.org contributor. Japan in 2013 passed an Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets and is now developing the implementing regulations. The law was recently critiqued by the United National Human Rights Committee. (See Freedominfo.org report.) Does Japan really have an information security problem? […]
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20 August 2014
The CIA Resisting Disclosure About Policy Change
By Nate Jones The author is a staff member at the National Security Archive, the parent organization of FreedomInfo.org, and writes the blog Unredacted where this article appeared Aug. 19 under the title “The CIA Misapplies FOIA Exemptions to Continue its Covert Attack on Mandatory Declassification Review. And Why it Matters.” On Friday September 23, […]
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18 August 2014
OGP Releases 11 Letters of Caution to Members
The Open Government Partnership has made public 11 letters informing member governments they were not in compliance with their OGP commitments. The letters, sent in April but only now released, point out a variety of issues No National Action Plan published within 4 months of due date: Mongolia, Trinidad and Tobago No self-assessment report published […]
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15 August 2014
IFAI Creates Committees on Six Different Topics
Mexico’s Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection (IFAI) has established six working committees, each headed by a commissioner. In a meeting with the heads of the Liaison Units from the agencies and entities from the Public Federal Administration, the commissioners of IFAI presented the Working Committees created to address the new responsibilities and powers […]
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14 August 2014
Two FOI Bills Emerge in Kenya, One from AG
Several right to information bills are being worked on in Kenya, including one recently announced by Attorney General Githu Muigai. Muigai now has cleared the publication of that bill, according to an article in The Star. “If enacted by the National Assembly and the Senate, it will bestow the Commission on Administrative Justice its oversight […]
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14 August 2014
Compromise Bill Developed in Pakistan, Wins Praise
A compromise right to information bill for Pakistan has emerged from discussions among the political parties and is being praised by RTI campaigners. The draft “Right to Information Act, 2014,” was described Aug. 8 by Waseem Abbasi in an article in The News. Abbasi quoted sources as saying the bill has the support of the […]
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14 August 2014
Scottish Commissioner Draws Attention to Tardy Responses
Almost a quarter of all the valid appeals sent to the Scottish Information Commissioner concern untimely responses. Rosemary Agnew, Scottish Information Commissioner, included this information in an Aug. 7 report to the Scottish Parliament. “When authorities don’t respond to requests they are effectively denying an individual’s rights, she said. “This is not only stressful and […]
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14 August 2014
Indian CIC Backs Disclosure of Whistleblower Complaints
India’s Central Information Commission (CIC) has supported the release of information about whistleblowers’ allegations, The decision came in a case in which Venkatesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative asked the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for details of complaints against government servants received under the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers (PIDPI) Resolution, also […]
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14 August 2014
Making Progress on Freedom of Information in Africa
By Chidi Odinkalu and Maxwell Kadiri The authors are with the Open Society Justice Initiative. This article was published Aug. 13. Odinkalu is senior legal officer for the Africa regional work of the Open Society Justice Initiative. Kadiri is associate legal officer on the Africa regional work of the Open Society Justice Initiative. In the decade […]
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14 August 2014
Court Finds No Need? to Clarify Scope of Request
By Harry Hammitt The author is the publisher of Access Reports, a biweekly newsletter on US and Canadian FOI developments. While disposing of most issues left outstanding in a series of lawsuits brought by University of Virginia graduate student Katelyn Sack, Judge Emmet Sullivan has inadvertently exposed the difficulty in making FOIA amendments designed to […]
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14 August 2014
FOI Notes: Research, Facebook, Environmental Transparency, More
Environmental Transparency: The July issue of the European Environmental Law Observatory covers information about the application of the Aarhus Convention on access to information, participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters; provides updates on judgments of the Court of Justice and the General Court; and highlights questions raised in recent doctrinal contributions, […]
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7 August 2014
Moroccan Cabinet Adopts Substandard ATI Bill
By Saad Filali Meknassi The author is an ATI advocate from Morocco. In Morocco, the Cabinet approved on July 31, 2014, the bill 31-13 on the right of access to information. This quick move has surprised observers and civil society organizations advocating and monitoring ATI implementation. The Moroccan network for ATI – REMDI – and two […]
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7 August 2014
IFAI Orders Disclosures by Mexican Oil Company
Mexico’s Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection (IFAI) has ordered Pemex Exploration and Production to disclose information on major contracts. PEP should provide information on four large contracts with the company Seadrill for exploratory oil drilling, IFAI determined. Commissioner Joel Salas Suarez said the oil company gave incomplete and contradictory answers, denying […]
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7 August 2014
Indian Water Resources Body Denies Access to Material
The Water Resources Department in the Indian state of Kerala has ordered that documents and information related to inter-state water issues not be disclosed under the Right to Information Act, according to an article in the Deccan Chronicle and another in the Hindu. A July 22 departmental order cites Section 8 of the RTI Act. […]
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7 August 2014
FOI Notes: Russia, Africa, Open Data, OGP, US, Germany, India, More
Russia: Russia’s Federal Migration Service is seeking to deport the American wife of Ivan Y. Pavlov, the founder of the Institute for Freedom of Information Development, the New York Times reported. His wife, Jennifer Gaspar, has lived in Russia for a decade, working for a variety of nongovernmental organizations, including groups focused on human rights […]
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7 August 2014
Australian Commissioner Exempts Incoming Government Briefs
By Peter Timmins The following article appeared Aug. 4 in Open and Shut, Timmins’ blog about FOI in Australia. The decisions by Australian Information Commissioner Professor McMillan in Parnell & Dreyfus, and Crowe on the exempt status of incoming government briefs (IGB) under the Freedom of Information Act will please those in government who argue […]
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6 August 2014
OGP Announces New Steering Committee Members
Five new civil society organization representatives and three new governments have been selected to serve on the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee. A selection process determined the new CSO members to the 22 member Steering Committee. The committee, slightly enlarged now, is evenly divided between CSO and government members. The chosen CSO representatives are: – […]
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6 August 2014
Bhutan Refuses to Disclose Official Travel Expenses
In Bhutan, where a right to information bill stalled earlier this year, the government is refusing to provide information about official travel expenses, writes a member of parliament, Sangay Khandu. Khandu chronicles his efforts to obtain the information beginning in January. He reports on the many excuses used: The Government refused to share any information by […]
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6 August 2014
UN Committee Criticizes Japanese Secrecy Law
As the Japanese government takes steps to implement its Secrecy Law, the United Nations Human Rights Committee has voiced its reservations about the controversial law. The committee said in a July 23 report covering many topics that it “is concerned that the recently adopted Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets contains a vague […]