India: “Right to Information is Slowly but Surely Being Suffocated,” an article in the Wire by former information commissioner Shailesh Gandhi. He writes that “ accountability and transparency have not yet become embedded in the DNA of those with power, and this is a change that will take much longer.” Gandhi says “there are now worrying signs that we may have reached a point of stagnation, which could lead to RTI’s regression.” The government’s backlash after a honeymoon period came because “the establishment soon realised that it had unleashed a genie, which curbs its powers for arbitrariness and corruption.” Most state governments and central government “have developed techniques to wear out the applicant.” He accuses the Information Commission of “lackadaisical ways” have helped and emboldened them.” Gandhi says that his analysis of commission decisions shows that RTI “is being constricted by interpretation.”
India: An article in The Shillong Times examines 10 years of RTI in the state of Meghalaya finding that “there were more applications from the people over the years, coupled with increase in the disposal of requests, but at the same time rejections of applications and penalties for not providing information were also on the rise.”
India: A report by the Digital Rights Foundation “State of Proactive Disclosure of Information in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab Public Bodies,” compared 19 government websites of Punjab and 13 from K-P, scoring them for key aspects such as information provided about respective departments, its budget, details of employees and their functions, ease of access of websites, among 11 categories, reports The Express Tribune.
Fiji: The Fiji Times reports that National Federation Party leader Biman Prasad has objected that the government-owned Fiji Sugar Corporation has refused to release weekly crush reports from each of its four mills, saying sugarcane farmers have a right to information regarding the performance of the country’s sugar mills.
South Africa: A court rules that inspection reports about workplace accidents must be disclosed, fin24.com reports. Industrial Health Resource Group v Minister of Labour (74793/2013) [2015] ZAGPPHC 555 (7 August 2015) per Matojane J at para [53]
Australia: The province of Victoria’s FOI commissioner Lynne Bertolini “has resigned after a damning state government review found significant problems within her office, including questionable expenditure and underperformance,” reported The Age.
Nigeria: Commentary by Osilama Okuofu, social media commentator, politician and a political writer, about corruption and governance, concluding:
Nigerians’ right to know cannot be questioned and reduced to a ‘need to know’ basis. The Freedom of Information bill has taken care of that and government officials should stop acting like they are doing us a favour, behave with unbridled arrogance but only become contrite and humble when going around asking for our votes.
Turkey: An article on the state of RTI in Turkey and plans to advocate for reform.
Nepal: An article in ARKO and another in The Hilmialayan about the two-day national RTI convention organized jointly by Freedom Forum, and Collective Campaign for RTI. Discussion included how to ensure that a proposed constitutional provision on privacy not interfere with right to information.
Research: UK Blogger FOIMan launches “FOIMan Infographics – with a timeline summarising the history of freedom of information.”
Namibia: Commentary by Marius Kudumo, the Director of International Relations at the Polytechnic of Namibia saying, “I sometimes get the impression that some elected representatives and public officials in Namibia are of the view that it is a privilege to have access to public information.” He continues:
Some go to the extent of advancing that effective governance, accountability and transparency are Western impositions. I contest this view and argue that effective governance irrespective of the contexts is essentially about rendering effective public goods
United Kingdom: Commentary by IJClarke on the prospect of weakening the FOIA. He comments that “the figures involved in the review process should cause alarm for those concerned with transparent governance.”
Bulgaria: Attorney-at-law Vincent Tochkov evaluates access to information in criminal proceedings in Bulgaria.
Open Data: The US Federal CIO Council’s Innovation Committee releases an Open Data Prioritization Toolkit. “The toolkit assists agencies with evaluating and prioritizing datasets for release. It consists of tools, workbooks, and resources to help agencies evaluate datasets on the criteria of value, cost, and risk. Included in each criteria are questions agencies can use to aide the data release prioritization process.”
United States: Fifty-three journalism and open government groups sent a letter to Obama urging changes to policies that constrict information flow to the public, including prohibiting journalists from communicating with staff without going through public information offices, requiring government PIOs to vet interview questions and monitoring interviews between journalists and sources.
United States: Francis Fukuyama writes in The Financial Times that “demands for certain kinds of transparency have hurt government effectiveness, particularly with regard to its ability to deliberate.” He is a senior fellow at Stanford’s Freeman Spogli Institute and author of ‘Political Order and Political Decay.” He claims that the Federal Advisory Committee Act “places onerous requirements on any public agency seeking to consult a group outside the government.” He laments that the FOIA is being used by corporations, individuals curious to find out what the government knows about them, and activist groups.
United States: A guide to the Illinois FOI law is issued by the law firm of Loevy & Loevy.
United States: In an interview, Robert Freeman, the executive director of the New York Committee on Open Government, reflects on seven governors and their records for transparency.
United States: The Justice Department describes its FOIA training materials, including videos.
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