Posts Tagged ‘commissioners/ombudsmen’
-
12 October 2012
Indian Government Appeals Controversial Court Ruling
The Indian government has appealed a controversial Supreme Court ruling that that has roiled Indian information commissions by mandating more involvement of trained judges in the process. The announcement came Oct. 11, preceding an Oct. 12 speech by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the seventh anniversary of the RTI act at seventh Convention of Central […]
-
12 October 2012
Canadian Law Needs Improvement, Groups Say
Canada should begin broad consultations as a first step to bringing its Access to Information Act into line with international standards, and officials “should improve their compliance with the spirit of the Act,” according to five civil society groups. The conclusions came in a submission to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review process […]
-
11 October 2012
Indian CIC Orders Delhi to Enhance Assembly Info
The Central Information Commission has ordered the Delhi assembly to provide more information about its proceedings. Information Commissioner Annapurna Dixit directed the assembly secretariat to publish laws that pass on its website in Hindi and English and to consider providing live webcasts of assembly proceedings, according to reports in the Times of India and the Hindustan […]
-
1 October 2012
Ruling Sows Confusion Among Indian Commissions
More than a quarter of India’s 28 Information Commissions have halted work in the aftermath of the top court’s recent ruling that retired judges must be on commission panels, according to a survey by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. The Central Information Commission continues to hear cases as before, CHRI said. “However the State Information […]
-
20 September 2012
Scottish Commissioner Sees Growing Number of Appeals
New Scottish Information Commissioner Rosemary Agnew has reported a hike in the number of appeals to her office over freedom of information request denials and criticized the Scottish government presiding over an “unacceptable” erosion access to information. “It is simply not acceptable that citizens’ rights continue to be eroded through complex changes in the delivery […]
-
20 September 2012
Cayman Commissioner Reports Agency Resistance
Cayman Islands Information Commissioner Jennifer Dilbert has criticized an unnamed government agency for failing to identify records responsive to a request, according to a recent quarterly report. The report said the commissioner will not hesitate to enforce penalties in the law. Also noted in the report is that a Legislative Assembly subcommittee’s review […]
-
18 September 2012
Canadian Commissioner Sees Performance Improvement
Canada’s Information Commissioner in her annual report (And in French) reports “for the first time in 10 years, a reversal of the declining performance of federal institutions in their fulfillment of their obligations under the Access to Information Act.” Suzanne Legault wrote, “Although this improvement was only slight, and the access to information system remains fragile, […]
-
14 September 2012
Indian Court Says Judges Must Head Commissions
The Supreme Court of India has ordered that all Chief Information Commissioners must be retired judges and that each case must be heard by a two-member bench, with one judicial member and one non-judicial member. The Central Information Commission (CIC), the final appellate authority for RTI Act, suspended hearings on Sept. 14, held an urgent […]
-
9 August 2012
UK ICO Provides Guidance on FOI Law and Copyrights
Copyrighted material may be disclosed pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request, according to recent guidance from the United Kingdom’s Information commissioner’s Office. The UK’s Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (CDPA) permits such disclosures, the ICO guidance says “Providing information in response to a request made under FOIA constitutes an act specifically authorised under […]
-
6 July 2012
Are Qualified Commissioners Being Appointed in India?
By Shonali Ghosal Ghosal is a correspondent with Tehelka where this article first appeared. Last month, on 9 June, Ratnakar Gaikwad, former chief secretary, Maharashtra, was sworn in as the state’s Chief Information Commissioner (CIC). Curiously, his appointment came just over a week after his retirement as chief secretary. This, after the post of CIC […]
-
2 July 2012
Retiring Indian Commissioner Ghandi Says RTI Threatened
Shailesh Ghandhi, who will retire June 6 as an Indian Information Commissioner, is warning of threats facing the right to information law. In an interview with CNN IBN, Gandhi said, “I believe that so far the RTI Act has achieved far more than expected but there are serious threats most of us are not conscious […]
-
29 June 2012
EU Ombudsman Flags Transparency as Official Goal
The European Ombudsman, P. Nikiforos Diamandouros, has published a set of five principles” to guide the conduct of EU civil servants that includes transparency. The fifth principle states: 5. Transparency Civil servants should be willing to explain their activities and to give reasons for their actions. They should keep proper records and welcome public scrutiny of […]
-
1 June 2012
Irish IC Hopes for Reforms, Notes More Requests
The Irish Information Commissioner May 30 said she hopes to see new freedom of information reform legislation later this year and noted that FOI requests rose 8 percent in 2011. Emily O’Reilly, Information Commissioner and Commissioner for Environmental Information, made these points and others upon the release of the 2011 Annual Report (press release). Regarding prospective […]
-
18 May 2012
UK Cabinet Vetoes Release of Sensitive Risk Report
A major FOI controversy ensued in the United Kingdom after the cabinet vetoed the release of an assessment of risks of the government’s health system reforms. The decision overruled an order from Information Commissioner Christopher Graham to publish the National Health Service risk register. Graham protested the decision, saying that “none of the criteria for […]
-
10 May 2012
Retired Officials Dominate Indian State Commissions
Most Indian state information commissioners are retired civil servants and many posts are vacant, according to fact-filled critical report by the Access to Information Programme of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, based in New Delhi. Also, less than half of the commissions have put some or all of their decisions online and their websites are […]
-
10 May 2012
Liberia Announces Intention to Appoint FOI Commissioner
Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf announced in a May 3 statement that she will “very soon” appoint the country’s first information commissioner. The position was created by the FOI passed in October of 2010, but has not been filled. The announcement was praised by Peter Quagua, president of the Press Union of Liberia, in a […]
-
7 May 2012
More Fees, Discretion to Refuse FOI Requests Recommended In Australia
By Avinesh Chand and Barry Dunphy This article appeared April 26 on the blog of the Australian Clayton Utz law firm and is reprinted with permission. Key Points: Agencies could have greater discretion to refuse freedom of information requests, and charge more fees – but applicants would get a cheaper alternative to FOI If recent […]
-
30 April 2012
Requests in Germany Doubled in 2011, Report Says
The German Federal Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, Peter Schaar, April 24 issued an annual report showing that requests are rising. The third annual report on freedom of information for 2010 and 2011, indicates that in 2011, 3,280 applications were made, an increase of 110 percent compared with the 1,557 requests recorded […]
-
27 April 2012
India’s CIC Clashes With Justice Over Use of RTI
India’s Chief Information Commissioner Shailesh Gandhi has written to the Chief Justice of India, S.H. Kapadia, to object to his recent comments critical of the right to information law. The chief justice was quoted as saying the law was “good” but was being misused to ask irrelevant and intrusive questions. In his reply, Gandhi said: […]
-
23 April 2012
Mexican Senate Okays Laveaga to Post on IFAI
The Mexican Senate has approved the appointment of Gerardo Laveaga as a commissioner of the Federal Institute of Access to Information, notwithstanding doubts about his experience and independence raised by nongovernmental organizations. A coalition of 11 groups had opposed his nomination saying it violated Article 35 of the Mexican freedom of information law, which states that […]