FOI History: The Forsskal website announces a new translation, by Ian Giles and Peter Graves, of the 1766 Swedish/Finish royal ordinance “Regarding the Freedom of Writing and of the Press.”
The key provision:
- Furthermore, the printing of all judgments and decisions, resolutions, rescripts, instructions, constitutions, rules and privileges will be permissible, with more of the same – of whatever kind it may be – that has been issued or in future will be issued by Our Council Chamber and Chancellery, departments or offices, as well as by the Appeal and Higher courts and Boards of the Realm, and this is to include the official correspondence of their officials and other state officials. Also to be included here – along with the decisions and responses to them – are all the memorials, applications, projects, proposals, reports and appeals made by societies and public bodies and by private individuals. Also to be included are the documented activities and official duties, both legitimate and illegitimate, of all officials, together with [an account of] what then ensued, whether useful or harmful. To that end, free access to all archives shall be permitted, so that documents of this kind may be copied in loco or certified copies be obtained. The duty of seeing that such provision is made is subject to the penalty stated in Paragraph 7 of this ordinance.
Mexico: The National Institute of Transparency, Access to Information and Protection of Personal Data (INAI) announces (in Spanish) that it will disclose the travel of its members. The initiative includes website with images of planes representing trips, linked to information on who traveled, when and at what cost. Some other government agencies reportedly have joined, although their data does not appear on the Comisiones Abiertas website. The software also allows various comparisons and provides total travel costs with several breakdown options.
United States: “Teaching the Next Generation about the Power of FOIA,” a blog posting by the FOI Ombudsman’s office, includes an infographic that explains basic facts about the public’s rights under FOIA and what to expect during the process. “The infographic uses plain language and graphics intended to help students easily understand the basic concepts of FOIA and where they can find more information about how to ask for copies of agency records.”
India: “The court must get its directions implemented and read the riot act to Reserve Bank of India, “ writes former CIC commissioner Shailesh Ghandhi. Separately, Gandhi calls for public movement to “save” RTI, the Indian Express reports.
Sweden: The Swedish Alaveteli site has just launched.
Belgium: Anti-corruption NGO Anticor Belgium launches a FOI website:Transparencia.be.
United States: Lauren Harper writes about a discussion at the FOIA Advisory Committee meeting about the administration of the section of the Rehabilitation Act that requires agencies to ensure that persons with disabilities have comparable access to government information as persons without disabilities
China: The government “will implement rules more specifically to improve government information transparency, calling for more public participation in policy making and better sharing of information,” according to the official Xinhua news agency, reporting on new “guidelines” approved by the State Council.
India/Maharashtra: The 10th annual report of the State Information Commission says a major challenge facing the implementation of the RTI Act is “ignorance” about law among public information officers and Appellate Authorities, reports The Indian Express.
United States: The CIA releases the long-contested Volume V of its official history of the US Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, which it had successfully concealed until now by claiming that it was a “draft” and could be withheld from the public under the FOIA’s “deliberative process” privilege, announced the National Security Archive, which fought the agency for years in court to release the document.
United States: “During the last two years, media of all stripes have regularly covered Hillary Clinton’s email practices. But widespread similar email practices by local government officials have been treated, at best, with a yawn; at worst, by sweeping them under the rug.” This according to an article in Huffington Post by J.H. Snider, president of iSolon.org, a non-profit that develops and advocates reforms where elected officials have a conflict of interest with the American public, especially in the use of information technology, to make themselves more democratically accountable.
European Union: A blog post by Miguel Angel Blanes Climent argues for more EU transparency.
Environmental Transparency: The Aarhus Convention, which gives citizens and civil society organizations the right to access information about pollution and environmental impacts, “was needed and it works,” writes Christian Friis Bach, Executive Secretary United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
Open Data/United States: The Data Foundation and Grant Thornton co-publish The State of the Union of Open Data 2016.
Open Budgets: A case study examines the background to the rise and fall of budget transparency in Honduras. It presents a cautionary tale about the dangers of “open washing,” and about political manipulation disguised as a window of opportunity, the International Budget Partnership writes.
India: The Department of Personnel and Training invites applications for field research on compliance of Section-4 by Public Authority, study of effectiveness of First Appeal Process and providing policy based on the contents of RTI applications and First Appeals.
United States: Half of the 15 Cabinet agencies of the United States have not complied with the most basic aspect of the executive order: publishing an open government plan on their open website, reports Alex Howard of the Sunlight Foundation.
United States: Documenting difficulties in getting government information in the state of Oregon, Adam Andrzejewski, chief executive of OpenTheBooks.com, concludes, “The bad news, at least here in Oregon, is that the effort to fight transparency is bipartisan.”
United States: A handful of articles on openness in a New America publication. One by Lee Drutman warns of the costs of transparency. Hollie Russon-Gilman and K. Sabeel Rahman write in another article:
But for transparency to generate meaningful democratization and more responsive government, “open government” initiatives must be complemented by efforts to organize communities at the grassroots, and to create institutional hooks and levers through which enable these communities to exercise real political power.
Open Governance: Brendan Halloran of the International Budget Partnership writes, “There’s been a slow-dawning realization among open governance advocates that pushing for more inclusive and accountable governance requires a much deeper engagement with politics.”
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