What’s New
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22 October 2015
Liberian Commissioner Tells Agencies to Comply With Law
Liberia’s information commissioner has issued a directive to agencies telling them to comply with the 2010 freedom of information law or face administrative and legal action. An administrative circular issued by Commissioner Mark Bedor-Wla Freeman sets a deadline for institutions to appoint public information officers (PIOs). Many agencies also have not made reports to the […]
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22 October 2015
Senegal Forms Committee to Develop Access Legislation
Senegal’s Ministry of African Integration, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and Promotion of Good Governance have established a steering committee for the development of a law on access to information. Chief of staff of that Ministry, Massamba Sene, is quoted as saying that the committee will have to work “quickly and well.” “The approach will […]
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22 October 2015
FOI Notes: Canada, India, South Africa, Scotland, Australia, Cyprus, US, Nigeria, Ghana, Ireland
Canada: A coalition of 22 NGOs says it has received promises from the NDP and Liberal parties to substantively improve the access to information system if elected, a pledge with weight following the Liberal victory in the elections. Newspapers Canada recently released its ninth annual National Freedom of Information Audit report, saying the law is “effectively […]
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22 October 2015
Parliament OKs Amendments to Bulgarian ATI Law
The Bulgarian National Assembly on Oct. 6 adopted at first reading amendments to the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) that emphasize the publication of more documents online. The amendments would expand the list of information to be published online and provide a timeline. The heads of public bodies would be tasked with reviewing proactive […]
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22 October 2015
OGP Leaders to Review Progress, Discuss Next Moves
Discussion of progress to date and several new initiatives is on agenda for two meetings of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee to be held Oct. 26-27 in Mexico City in advance of the third OGP summit Oct. 28-29. One proposal expected to advance will be a pilot project to involve subnational governments. Top ministers […]
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21 October 2015
Indian PM Modi Pledges Timely, Trouble-Free RTI
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Oct. 16 said the right to information process should follow a “3-T” mantra of being timely, transparent and trouble-free. Speaking at the 10th annual Convention of Central Information Commission, Modi supported providing more information “proactively.” Modi said democracy will be strengthened the faster “we move towards transparency,” the stronger will be […]
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19 October 2015
UN Body Advances Proposal For International ATI Day
The Executive Board of UNESCO Oct. 19 adopted a resolution recommending that Sept. 28 be recognized as International Access to Information Day. The resolution next heads to the 38th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference, which will take place in Paris from Nov. 3 – 18. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. […]
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15 October 2015
Mozambique Cabinet Issues Regulation on FOI Law
The Mozambican Council of Ministers Oct. 13 approved regulations concerning the law on freedom of information, signed into law in December, 2014. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Government spokesperson Deputy Health Minister Mouzinho Saide said that the law and its regulations apply to all state bodies, to municipalities and to those private bodies which, under law […]
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15 October 2015
Controversies Cloud India’s RTI Act 10 Year Anniversary
Last week he said he couldn’t make it, but this week Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would attend a national conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 2005 Right to Information Act. And that (see NDTV report) wasn’t the only controversy surrounding the annual RTI conference sponsored by the Central Information Commission. Some RTI activists are boycotting […]
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15 October 2015
Armenia Sets Regulation About Electronic Requests
Armenia has approved regulations that will electronic requests for information. “The civil society was waiting for this Act more than 12 years since adoption of the FOI Law in 2003,” according to Shushan Doydoyan, director of the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia, who has just been selected as the head of the newly established Personal Data […]
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15 October 2015
Ireland Orders Creation of Proactive Disclosure Plans
The new Irish Freedom of Information Act came into force Oct. 14 and the government has told agencies they have six months to create their plans for proactive disclosure of information. The government issued an implementation order, which also covers a new fee structure. “A key innovation,” the government said, “requires public bodies to pre-empt the need […]
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15 October 2015
FOI Notes: Germany, Trade, Namibia, Nigeria, OGP, Zimbabwe, Brazil, US, Commentary
Germany: The Conference of Commissioners for Freedom of Information (Konferenz der Informationsfreiheitsbeauftragten – IFK) has commented on a plan by the Baden-Württemberg government to adopt a FOI act, and said the draft act falls short of the freedom of information standards established in Germany, according to a by lawyers from Squire Patton Boggs. The Conference […]
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14 October 2015
Ghana President Undercuts Value of FOI Legislation
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has cast doubt on the value of a freedom of information law, while still indicating he thinks it will be passed. The president’s remarks came in an Oct. 7 DW television interview with Tim Sebastian and caused the Coalition on the Right to Information Coalition in an Oct. 13 statement […]
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14 October 2015
UK Commission Poses Six Questions, Seeks Comment
A British government commission has called for “evidence” regarding potential changes to the Freedom of Information Act. With six questions, the five-member commission has confirmed two major areas of interest: — how to protect the internal deliberations of public bodies and — the cost of handling FOI requests. The announcement summarizes the issues, including a […]
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8 October 2015
India Issues Guidance on RTI Replies and Best Practices
By Venkatesh Nayak The author is Programme Coordinator, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. The Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) – the nodal department for implementing The Right to Information Act, 2005 (RTI Act) in the Government of India has uploaded two important documents on its website. The DoPT has issued reasonably detailed […]
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8 October 2015
FOI Notes: OGP Summit, India, Transparency Research, US, Mexico, Malawi, UK, and a Mystery
OGP: The schedule for the end of October summit in Mexico City includes several FOI-related panels. One is titled “Building Bridges Between the access to Information and Open Government Data Communities.” Another one is “Access to Information and Improving Policing: Results of a Multi-Country Study and Other OGP Efforts.” Also, “Access to Information as a […]
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6 October 2015
RTK Nigeria Paints Picture of Dismal Government Effort
The Right to Know Nigeria has released as study showing abysmal government performance on the disclosure of information. “Of a total of 39 government institutions assessed, the report finds that none had complied with the obligation to proactively disclose information – no institution obtained even a 20% compliance rating,” according to the Proactive Disclosure Assessment […]
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2 October 2015
Amended Croatian FOA Law Came Into Force in August
Amendments to the Croatian freedom of information law became effective in August. The most significant changes concern the reuse of the public sector information and open data. Among other things, the law mandates establishment of an open data portal. “E-counselling” has become obligatory. In addition, the restrictions FOI were clarified and an abuse of FOI […]
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2 October 2015
Moroccan Group Says Draft FOI Legislation Needs Fixes
The Centre for Media Freedom (CMF) on Sept. 29 issued a critical report (in French) on the pending right of access to information in Morocco. “The bill on the right of access to information requires a radical overhaul to bring it in line with international standards and examples of democratic countries,” said Said Essoulami, chairman […]
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1 October 2015
Groups Call on Zimbabwe to Prove More Transparency
Human rights groups on Sept. 28 called the government to enact a new access to information law. Media Consultant and former journalist, Rashweat Mukundu, said, “The government is still operating with a twenty century mentality in the 21st century hence the lack of access to government information,” according to a lengthy article on RadioVOP by Sij Ncube. His […]