What’s New
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10 November 2014
Senate Panel Schedules Meeting on FOI Legislation
The Senate Judiciary Committee has scheduled a meeting for 10 a.m. Nov. 13 to consider S.2520, the FOIA Improvement Act of 2014. With limited time left in this session of Congress and new current swirled by the recent election, the hope is for “unanimous consent” passage in the Judiciary Committee and expeditious passage on the […]
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6 November 2014
World Bank Sparks Discussion of RTI Implementation
The World Bank is exploring how it can encourage better implementation of right to information laws. One idea on the table at a Nov. 5 forum in Washington was to create an international standard about what governments should report on their compliance with RTI laws. Also discussed was to develop a set of international principles […]
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6 November 2014
EITI, OGP Face Challenges Handling Civic Space Issues
By Toby McIntosh New mechanisms by two multilateral organizations, designed to protect the rights of civil society activists, will soon be tested. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative is examining whether Azerbaijan should lose its membership for stifling dissent, using a policy intended to prevent such behavior that was substantially mimicked by the Open Government Partnership. […]
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6 November 2014
ECB Releases Letter at Urging of EU Ombudsman
The Governing Council of the European Central Bank Nov. 6 decided to publish a letter written four years by former ECB president Jean-Claude Trichet to then Irish Finance minister Brian Lenihan. The announcement said the release of the document “honoured” a request in March by the European Ombudsman that the ECB reconsider its previous refusal […]
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6 November 2014
Arkansas Judge Orders Public Official Arrested
A judge in Arkansas on Nov. 5 issued an arrest warrant for a government agency official over claims he didn’t provide documents requested by an Arkansas newspaper. A prosecutor earlier this week had issued an arrest affidavit for the official, accused of a misdemeanor charge of violating the Arkansas Freedom of Information Act. Pulaski County […]
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6 November 2014
Tanzanian Parliament Orders Arrest of 2 Company Officials
Two top officials at Tanzania’s state-owned oil agency were arrested Nov. 3 on charges of failing to give parliament the oil and gas contracts the government signed with foreign and local investors, according to an article by Kizoto Makoye for the Thompson Reuters Foundation. The Parliamentary Committee on Public Accounts instructed police to arrest James […]
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6 November 2014
FOI Notes: Corporate Transparency, Tshwane, India, UK, US, Open Data, More
Corporate Transparency: Transparency International issues a report on Transparency in Corporate Reporting about the websites of the world’s 124 largest publicly traded companies. Also see Guardian article. Tshwane Principles: Open Society Foundations issues “a new and final version of the Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information (the Tshwane Principles) in Spanish. […]
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30 October 2014
Indian Order Sparks Debate on Disclosing Requester Info
The recent decision by the Indian government to post online the replies to right to information requests is generating debate over whether requester names should be disclosed. The instruction from the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) in an Oct. 21 memorandum did not directly address the disclosure of names issue, but those familiar with […]
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30 October 2014
Albania Rewrites Access Law; Changes Considered Positive
A new Albania right to information law has been enacted that supporters called “groundbreaking.” “At last, this reform brings the law on the right to information to the level of advanced legislation in the region and beyond,” said Darian Pavli, senior attorney at the Open Society Justice Initiative in a statement that also credited lobbying […]
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30 October 2014
FOI Notes: UK, India, UK, OGP, Open Budgets, Pakistan, More
United Kingdom: Joe Reddington in a blog post writes about a paper by Alexander J Fowler, and others: “The UK Freedom of Information Act (2000) in healthcare research: a systematic review.“ In an interview, Fowler says among other things: I think the FOI Act is a hugely powerful tool for medical research – especially policy type […]
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29 October 2014
US FOIA Advisory Panel Tackles Variety of Topics
By Lauren Harper The author writes for the National Security Archive Unredacted blog. The FOIA Advisory Committee, established by the second Open Government National Action Plan and tasked to “advise on improvements to FOIA administration,” held itssecond meeting last week. The Committee consists of ten government and ten non-governmental FOIA experts – including the Archive’s FOIA Coordinator Nate Jones […]
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29 October 2014
OGP Sees Promise in New National Action Plans
With a new batch of 30 national action plans to review, Open Government Partnership staffers like what they are seeing. Improvements are being seen in how the plans are being created and in specificity of the commitments. These observations were offered during a presentation in Washington by Joseph Foti, the manager of the Independent Review […]
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28 October 2014
Croatia Pledges to Amend Access to Information Act
Croatia has pledged to amend its freedom of information act to improve its usefulness, according to one point in its latest action plan submitted as part of the Open Government Partnership process The government committed to make changes that would help ensure that its data is high quality and accessible for reuse. “Amendments to the […]
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23 October 2014
Indian Ministries Told to Post Replies Online by Oct. 31
All Indian government agencies have been told to post online their replies to Right to Information Act requests by the end of the month. The ministry overseeing the administration of the Indian RTI Act on Oct. 21 announced a new website feature that will allow placement of replies on the RTI Online system. Agencies were […]
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23 October 2014
FOI Notes: Personnel Moves, Pakistan Video, US Schools, UK Court Ruling
Personnel: The Ford Foundation announced the appointment of Rakesh Rajani as director of Democratic Participation and Governance. Rajani currently serves as the head of Twaweza in Tanzania and was the lead civil society chair for the Open Government Partnership. He will begin his new position in New York on Jan. 5. Personnel: Transparency International has […]
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23 October 2014
50 US Groups Press Obama to Back FOI Legislation
Concerned that the Obama administration has been largely mute on a pending bipartisan bill to reform the Freedom of Information Act, 50 groups Oct. 23 urged him to voice his support. The bill has support from both Republican and Democratic legislators, has already passed the House and would appear to have a god chance of passage, […]
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23 October 2014
Carnegie Commentators Score Use of Four Principles
“Four key principles—accountability, transparency, participation, and inclusion—have in recent years become nearly universal features of the policy statements and programs of international development organizations. Yet this apparently widespread new consensus is deceptive: behind the ringing declarations lie fundamental fissures over the value and application of these concepts. Understanding and addressing these divisions is crucial to […]
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23 October 2014
El Salvadoran Court Orders Open Proceedings on Judges
The Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice in El Salvador has decided administrative proceedings against judges must be transparent. The court ruled that the Access to Information Act, through its article 110, tacitly abolishes the provision (article 70 of the Judicial Career Act of 1990) that established the confidentiality of the administrative punitive […]
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16 October 2014
Report Paints Bleak Picture of Indian RTI Law at 10th Year
A comprehensive and scathing report on the Indian Right to Information documents extensive weaknesses in the system and makes major recommendations for reform. The 150-page examination provides a detailed picture of dysfunction, including “huge” backlogs, an ineffectual appeals process, lack of compliance with orders and penalty awards, and weak records management. The research provides many […]
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16 October 2014
UN Panel Told That Angola Needs Better Implementation
Angola is not doing enough to implement its right to information law, according to a statement made by the Africa Freedom of Information Centre to a United Nations body. The statement was made by Gilbert Sendugwa, AFIC’s Coordinator & Head of Secretariat, at an Oct. 7 meeting under the auspices of the Human Rights Council. […]