What’s New
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21 April 2016
FOI Notes: OGP, EU, US, India, UK, Israel, Open Data
OGP: The next OGP summit will be held in Paris Dec. 7-9, announces the French government, the incoming OGP government co-chair. Proposals for programs are invited. India: “Eleven years since the path-breaking legislation Right to Information (RTI) Act came into force, more than 300 activists seeking information against government officials, local contractors, politicians, land mafia […]
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20 April 2016
Venezuelan Commission Begins Discussing Access Bill
A special commission in Venezuela has begun discussing a draft bill (in Spanish) on access to information. The opening meeting of the Joint Committee on the Draft Law on Transparency, Disclosure and Access to Public Information was held April 14, chaired by Simon Calzadilla, second vice president of the National Assembly, acording to an account […]
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20 April 2016
Ivory Coast Commission Acts to Implement, Publicize Law
The Ivory Coast Commission for Access to Public Information (Acronym CAIDP in French) has called on all state departments to designate their information officers, conducted a series of training sessions on the law and recently created a website. Agency information officers will receive requests from users wishing to access information and the documents of public […]
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20 April 2016
Hong Kong Ombudsman Issues Summaries, TV Spots
Hong Kong Ombudsman Connie Lau has announced a new website section about complaint cases relating to the Code on Access to Information and has prepared five short videos about the Code. “From complaint cases handled in the past, we noted that some departments and organisations were not conversant enough with the requirements of the Code. […]
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19 April 2016
US Federal Advisors Urge More Leeway on Fee Waivers
By Toby McIntosh An advisory committee on the US Freedom of Information Act has recommended that government agencies should be given more administrative discretion not to charge fees. Ending two years of work, the advisory committee (which will be reconstituted) made this suggestion and others as part of a call for the Office of Management […]
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14 April 2016
Judge Orders Disclosures Based on Ghana Constitution
In the absence of a national freedom of information law, a High Court of Justice court in Ghana has ordered the disclosure of documents based on an article in the Constitution. “Until the RTI Act is passed, This is it!” said one of the winning lawyers, Kofi Bentil, in a Facebook message. Justice Anthony Yeboah said that the right […]
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14 April 2016
Three US Legislators Draft Open Data Legislation
Several US legislators are planning to introduce legislation designed to open up more government data in useable formats. “Specifically, this bill defines open data without locking in yesterday’s technology; creates standards for making federal government data available to the public; requires the federal government to use open data to improve decision making; and ensures accountability […]
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14 April 2016
FOI Notes: Aid Transparency, OGP, TA&I, Gambia, Bahamas, India, Open Data, US, UK, Australia
Aid Transparency: The 2016 Aid Transparency Index released by Publish What You Fund shows that only 10 donors, responsible for only a quarter of all aid, are achieving the international transparency standard. However, most of the organizations covered fall into the lowest three categories, scoring below 60% and “demonstrating that the publication of timely, comparable […]
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7 April 2016
Lawsuits Challenge Constitutionality of Proposed Sri Lankan RTI Law
A handful of lawsuits have been filed challenging the constitutionality of the proposed right to information legislation in Sri Lanka. Under Sri Lankan procedures, the challenges will be heard by the Supreme Court before legislative action proceeds. The Sri Lankan government presented an RTI bill to parliament in March. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Various amendments […]
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7 April 2016
Nicaraguan FOI Law Ignored by Government, Article Says
“Despite being one of the first pieces of legislation that President Ortega signed into law in 2007, journalists and other organizations agree that the Law of Access to Public Information (LAIP by its initials in Spanish) does not work: the agencies do not release the information and no institution forces them to do so,” according to an article […]
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7 April 2016
New Canadian Government Delays FOI Reform Plans
The new Liberal government in Canada has decided to delay for two years making promised reforms to the Access to Information Act, according to a top official quoted an article by Jim Bronskill in The Globe and Mail and another, by Alexander Boutilier, in Cambridge Times Some short-term fixes, however, could be on the way soon, […]
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7 April 2016
Montenegro Plan to Open Public Records Doubted
Montenegro’s plans to rewrite its Freedom of Information Act are drawing criticisms, according to an article by Dusica Tomovic of the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network. “Montenegro is reforming its Freedom of Information Act in line with EU demands – but some NGOs suspect access to public records will stay limited due to a lack of political […]
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7 April 2016
FOI Notes: Beneficial Ownership, Recordkeeping, Europe, US, Whisky, More
Europe: Access Info Europe and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) release a report based on showing that in most European jurisdictions data on company ownership is almost impossible for the public to obtain. Beneficial Ownership: The Panama papers stories from the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) sparks massive reaction, too many to chronicle, but here […]
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6 April 2016
Vietnam Assembly Passes Access to Information Law
The Vietnamese National Assembly on April 6 approved an access to information law, according to an April 6 VNExpress article by Hoang Thuy, Vo Hai and Vuong Anh. The law was backed by 437 of the 448 deputies who cast their votes. Now that the National Assembly has adopted it, the government and Ministry of […]
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6 April 2016
Togo Approves FOI Law; 108th Internationally
The Togo National Assembly on March 10 approved a freedom of information law, according to media reports. Minister of Communication Guy Madjé Lorenzo was quoted as saying that the new law seeks to strengthen the role of media in the fight against corruption and fraud. See an Ecofin article and another on Togosite (both in […]
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30 March 2016
Indonesian Court Orders Release of Licensing Data
Indonesia’s Supreme Court has ordered the Kutai Kartanegara district government to disclose “a vast trove of licensing data,” according to a MongaBay report on the case “The case had originated in the country’s Public Information Commission (KIP), which is increasingly being used by civil society to obtain data related to the extractive, agribusiness and forestry sectors,” according […]
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30 March 2016
Scottish Commissioner Sends Letter on Timing of Releases
Scotland’s information commissioner has issued a clarification of policy on delaying the release of decisions during the pre-election period. A candidate for the Holyrood elections was told by the commissioner’s office would not issue certain decisions which may “put forward a critical view of ministers” until after the Scottish Parliament election on May 5, as […]
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30 March 2016
Sri Lankan Provincial Council Urges Strengthening FOI Bill
The Northern Provincial Council has recommended specific ways to beef up the Sri Lankan government’s proposed right to information bill. The draft bill was tabled March 23. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The Northern Provincial Council wants RTI to cover held by private authorities if such information is necessary in the public interest, according to a description of […]
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30 March 2016
FOI Notes: EU, US, India, Open Data, Nepal, Africa, Australia, UN, More
European Union: The Alliance for Lobbying Transparency and Ethics Regulation (ALTER-EU) makes access to information requests asking 17 EU member state permanent representations for a list of meetings held with lobbyists in the previous 12 months. Only four governments (Ireland, Romania, the Netherlands and Poland) provided all or some information. My Society: The UK group […]
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29 March 2016
OGP Working Group on ATI Issues 2016 Activities Plan
The Open Government Partnership’s Access to Information Working Group has issued a 2016 Work Plan emphasizing assistance to OGP member governments. At a March 30 webinar on the plan, the civil society co-chair of the working group appealed for more ideas and more participation. Only five persons responded to call to serve on a working […]