Pakistan: The federal ombudsman directs the Pakistan Cricket Board to share details of inquiries conducted against the players involved in match-fixing and betting since 1996. Civil society activist Zahid Abdullah requested the information under the Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002, according to an article in The News.
Honduras: The Regional Alliance for Free Expression and Information (AlianzaRegional) presents an amicus curiae brief in the Supreme Court of Honduras in a case filed by the Committee for Free Expression (C-Libre) challenging the constitutionality of a 2014 government secrecy law, according to a blog post.
Open Data: The UN 2016 global survey says 106 out of 193 member countries now make open government data catalogues, or data sets, available to the public, up from 46 countries in 2014.
Budget Transparency: The US state Department issues the 2016 Fiscal Transparency Report. The report reviews 140 governments that receive U.S. assistance and assesses whether those governments make key budget documents available to their citizens, whether those documents are substantially complete and reliable, and whether processes for awarding natural resource extraction contracts and licenses are transparent. The report includes specific recommendations for governments on areas where they should increase their fiscal transparency. Through these recommendations, we seek to eliminate opportunities for corruption by encouraging greater accountability and openness between governments and their citizens.
European Union: The Council of Europe is preparing guidelines on civic participation in political decision-making in its member states. Access to information is a topic in the draft text. The European Committee on Democracy and Governance (CDDG) and the Conference of International Non-Governmental Organisations (Conference of INGOs) are organizing a public consultation on the draft text. Send observations (in English or French) on the draft guidelines to the CDDG Secretariat (CDDG@coe.int) by 4 September 2016.
United States: The Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press is conducting a survey of journalists and news organizations on a “Release to One, Release to All” policy under the federal Freedom of Information Act, the group announces.
Generally, the policy calls for records released in response to a FOIA request to be simultaneously posted online for public viewing. A handful of federal agencies recently finished a pilot program, and the federal government is now seeking to roll out the policy across the executive branch.
Some reporters have expressed concerns that simultaneous release of records might negatively affect their reporting, “giving away” their scoops that come from FOIA releases. Others are less concerned about the policy, especially if there is a delay built in between the release to the requester and public posting. Beyond anecdotal evidence, however, there has been no large-scale survey on the views of those in the news media.
Philippines: “Freedom of Information law: will it pass under Duterte?,” an analysis in Rappler by Camille Elemia. Separately, Grace Poe becomes chairperson of the Senate committee on public information and says first priority is passage of FOI bill.
United States: Washington DC Court of Appeals says FOIA responses can’t be redacted for non-responsiveness
United States: An updated body camera scorecard shows that a majority of the body camera policies examined by Upturn and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights received the lowest possible score when it came to officer review of footage and citizens alleging misconduct having access to footage.
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