Posts Tagged ‘commissioners/ombudsmen’
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10 March 2014
Mexico’s Transparency Reforms, Part I: Migrant Rights and IFAI
By Michael Evans and Jesse Franzblau This article first appeared March 7 in Migration Declassified, a project of the National Security Archive, the parent organization of FreedomInfo.org. Clearing the decks after a recent overhaul of Mexico’s transparency regime, the Mexican Senate last week rejected a request by the current group of Federal Institute for Access to Information (IFAI) […]
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7 March 2014
EU Ombudsman Says ECB Being Too Secretive
European Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly has chastised the Governing Council of the European Central Bank for blocking disclosure of an ECB letter called on the Irish government to take swift action to protect the stability of the Irish financial system. “I regret that the Governing Council of the ECB has wasted an opportunity to apply the […]
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7 March 2014
Two Pakistani States Implementing New Laws
Two Pakistani states have taken somewhat delayed steps to implement recently passed right to information laws. The Punjab government has established the Punjab Information Commission and appointed the commissioners. One of them is Mukhtar Ahmed Ali. He is the founding director of a group that advocated for the new law, the Centre for Peace and […]
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6 March 2014
Insuring transparency isn’t the cost of outsourcing
By Steve Wood Wood is the Head of Policy Delivery at the UK Information Commissioners Office. This article appeared in the ICO blog on March 5. As talk of austerity continues to echo through the corridors of the public sector, the value of cost savings grows ever-more attractive. And if a CBI report is to […]
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4 March 2014
Freedom of Information in Ireland: changing of the guard
By Tony Lowes Lowes is a Director of Friends of the Irish Environment In what is a serious blow to Freedom of Information in Ireland, the newly appointed Information Commission and Ombudsman Peter Tyndall has withdrawn his predecessor’s appeal to the Supreme Court against a High Court judgment that the constitutional right to cabinet confidentiality […]
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4 March 2014
Bermuda Premier Plans Hunt for First Info Commissioner
Bermuda Premier Craig Cannonier has told parliament that the recruitment process for an information commissioner to oversee the 2010 freedom of information law will start this spring. He said further legislation on public access to information — to set fees, establish the organization and deal with maintenance of public records — would be introduced in […]
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28 February 2014
Mexican Senate Declines to Reappoint Commissioners
The Mexican Senate has rejected the requests of the four current commissioners of the Federal Institute for Access to Information and Data Protection (IFAI) to stay in office. The four commissioners — Sigrid Arzt, Maria Elena Perez-Jaen, Angel Trinidad Zaldivar and Gerardo Laveaga (the chairman) – will likely be gone by the first week in […]
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21 February 2014
Ill wind in Canberra on the transparency front
By Peter Timmins This article appeared Feb. 20 in Timmins’ Open and Shut blog. It’s still summer, it is not completely dark and gloomy (this Freedom of Information disclosure by Defence to Sean Parnell of The Australian is one to keep hope alive) but these straws plucked from the mist are telling: Tone at the […]
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12 February 2014
CIC Orders Six Parties to Comply With RTI Act
India’s Central Information Commission Feb. 7 asked the six national parties to explain what they have done to fulfill a June 2013 CIC for them to comply with the Right to Information Act. The Commission asked the parties to provide details of their actions within four weeks, according to media reports such as one in […]
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3 February 2014
EC Finds Fault With Spain’s New Information Access Law
The European Commission Feb. 3 praised Spain for passing a law on access to public information, but said it needs improvement. In particular, independent oversight should be added, the report said, and its implementation hastened. The comments came in a wide-ranging report on Spain’s anti-corruption efforts. The law adopted in December “represents a significant step […]
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17 January 2014
Maldives President Signs RTI Bill into Law; 99th in World
Maldives President Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom on Jan. 11 signed into the Right to Information Act Transparency Maldives hailed the ratification of the act as “major step forward for good governance and transparency.” The parliament approved the bill (in Dhivehi) in December. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The Maldives is the 99th country in the world […]
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20 December 2013
FOI Notes: Development, Surveillance, EU, China, Awards
Development: The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Development Initiatives, CIVICUS and Beyond Access, IFEX and Article 19 issue a statement on why access to information must be a central pillar in the future of development and outline possible metrics to measure progress (found here). Surveillance: Some 110 civil society organizations issue a […]
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6 December 2013
Canadian Commissioner Says Controls Needed for IM
Controls should be placed on instant messaging “to preserve government records and respect the federal access to information law,” according to a report by Suzanne Legault, Information Commissioner of Canada, issued Nov. 28. The recommendations already have been rejected by the government. “After investigating the use of wireless devices and instant messaging in 11 federal […]
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26 November 2013
FOI Notes: Media, Security, India, U.S., Research
Media: The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism has issued a volume analyzing the challenges and opportunities presented to journalists as they attempt to hold governments accountable in an era of professed transparency.” Security Sector: The Transparency and Accountability Initiative, the producers of the Open Government Guide have invited comments on a draft chapter […]
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11 October 2013
Canadian Commissioners Issue Call for Reform
Canada’s national information and privacy commissioners and the provincial commissioners on Oct. 9 issued an unusual joint resolution saying “Canada must re-establish its position as a leader in both the access and privacy fields” and offering 18 specific suggestions. Only a few Canadian laws “address modern challenges and to ensure continued protection of individuals’ rights […]
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11 October 2013
Alliance Protests Defiance by El Salvador Legislature
The Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información (Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information) has protested the decision of the Board of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador to ignore an order from the Institute for Access to Public Information (IAIP) to release information about the legislators’ legal advisors. The legislature said […]
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3 October 2013
Only Commissioner in Africa Busy With Delayed Start
By Toby McIntosh Liberia’s new information commissioner received his first appeal while working on his car in his garage. Mark Bedo-Wla Freeman had been appointed several months earlier, but in the beginning he lacked a computer, an office or any staff. Things are looking up now, after a little more than a year in office. Freeman has an […]
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3 October 2013
Scottish Commissioner Studies Broader Coverage
Scotland’s information commissioner, Rosemary Agnew, is exploring whether non-public bodies should be covered by the freedom of information law. She also is making plans to publish detailed information about the performance of government agencies in handling requests for information. Beginning next month, the commissioner will publish a compliance database concerning the number of requests made, […]
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2 October 2013
EU Transparency: Where are we now?
By P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, European Ombudsman The following speech was given by Diamandouros., the outgoing Euopean Ombudsman, at a seminar on Sept. 28, 2013, in Brussels. Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to this seminar on the occasion of the “International Right to Know Day”. It is the fourth time that the European Ombudsman organises such an event, […]
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22 September 2013
Snowden-Related Concerns Expressed by Commissioners
Information commissioners from 35 countries Sept. 20 issued a resolution stating that “in principle, even intelligence services cannot deny the public’s entitlement to transparency.” The specific reference was influenced by revelations about government secrecy during “the summer of Snowden,” a frequent topic of conversation at the Eighth International Conference of Information Commissioners in Berlin Oct. 18-20. […]