Posts Tagged ‘rti amendments’
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6 May 2015
Amendments May Make Slovakia’s FOIA Act Most Liberal in Europe
By Andrej Školkay The author is head of the School of Communication and Mass Media in Bratislava, Slovakia. His post first appeared on the LSE Media Policy Project blog. After two years of preparation, the Slovak Parliament is going to discuss an amendment to the law on freedom of information (FOIA) . However, considering the many objections and specifications raised by a published draft, it […]
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30 April 2015
Ukraine Passes Open Data Bill; Soviet Files Available
The Ukrainian parliament has passed new laws encouraging the release of government open data and providing more information from the country’s archive of Soviet-era KGB files. Parliament April 9 approved a law to encourage government agencies to publish free operational data, statistics and reports on government websites and the national open data web platform at […]
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1 April 2015
Canadian Commissioner Makes 85 Reform Proposals
The Canadian Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault has made 85 recommendations to bring the Access to Information Act up to international standards. Her report, Striking the Right Balance for Transparency: Recommendations to Modernize the Access to Information Act, was sent to Parliament, but observers were doubtful of the chances of passage with the current conservative government. Legault […]
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25 March 2015
Bulgarian Group Proposes Ideas on Rewriting RTI Law
A new report by the Access to Information Programme (AIP) in Bulgaria proposes ways to handle five major implementation problems. Based on its “18 years of experience in the monitoring and advocacy for enhanced transparency and accountability of public bodies and more active exercise of the right to information,” AIP formulated recommendations for necessary legislative […]
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23 March 2015
Issa Says Banks Rejected FOIA Bill Compromise
Major banks last year rejected a compromise proposal to resolve their concerns with freedom of information act reform legislation, according Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), to one of the leading House sponsors of the bipartisan legislation that died in the final days of Congress. Issa described the proposed deal at panel discussion on “Fixing FOIA” March […]
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19 March 2015
Mexican Senate Approves New Access Legislation
The Mexican Senate on March 18 approved a new access to information bill. The final bill does not include 77 of the 81 last-minute amendments urged by the government which had aroused strenuous objections, according to the Alejandro Gonzalez, the Executive Director of a Mexican civil society organization, Gestión Social y Cooperación (GESOC.) Gonzalez had […]
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18 March 2015
Proposed Changes to Mexican FOIA Law Still Worrying
By David Mora The author works for Article 19 in Mexico. On Feb. 19, Ana Cristina Ruelas of Article 19 wrote here on the contradiction of Mexico holding Open Government Partnership’s lead chair while the Mexican President pressed the Senate for regressive regulations in the General Transparency Law currently on discussion. In that entry, we […]
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26 February 2015
Backlash Develops Over Release of Body Cam Footage
By Toby McIntosh and Lauren Harper Bills to restrict or prevent the public disclosure of videos taken by police officers wearing cameras are sparking debate in state legislatures around the United States. Anti-disclosure bills have been offered in half a dozen states, usually by legislators with law enforcement backgrounds. “Video recordings should not be subject […]
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21 February 2015
OGP CSO Leaders Criticize Mexico Over FOI Legislation
In a highly unusual move, the civil society co-chairs on the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee have criticized the Mexican government, the overall OGP lead chairman, for proposing to undercut the Mexican freedom of information law. The Feb. 21 statement came after Mexican civil society groups blasted the Mexican government, but was a rare public […]
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19 February 2015
Mexico: OGP Leader Faking Transparency
By Ana Cristina Ruelas The author is the Right to Information Program Officer at ARTICLE 19, México and Central America Mexico became the lead chairman of the Open Government Partnership (OGP) on 2014, although we are far from openness. The government’s rhetoric is all about transparency and co-creation but in their offices they are pushing us […]
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17 February 2015
Pakistan Committee Unhappy With Progress on RTI Bill
A Pakistan Senate Committee Feb. 16 has expressed its displeasure with the lack of progress on Right to Information bill. “Delay in presenting such an important bill before the Cabinet for approval, is a grave constitutional violation which proves that it is not on priority list of the government despite the fact that the bill […]
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5 February 2015
NGOs, Media Groups Criticize Draft Cambodian Secrets Law
A proposed Cambodian law to protect state secrets is being criticized by nongovernmental organizations, opposition legislators and media watchdogs, according to a report by Radio Free Asia. The proposed legislation could be used by Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to stifle leaks about official corruption and other political information the public […]
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5 February 2015
Analysis of and Prospects for New House and Senate FOIA Bills
By Nate Jones This article first appeared in Unredacted, a blog of the National Security Archive, where Jones is the FOIA Coordinator. The Archive also publishes FreedomInfo.org. On Feb. 5, the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously approved the Senate bill discussed in this report. The demise of FOIA reform bills in the last Congress is analyzed in […]
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22 January 2015
NGO Recommends Reforming Bangladesh Exemptions
A nongovernmental organization in Bangladesh has recommended reforming the exemption section in the 2009 Right to Information Act. The Management and Resource Development Initiative (MRDI) said section 7 of the RTI law should be changed to make it more favorable for the public. MRDI Executive Director Hasibur Rahman presented the recommendations to Chief Information Commissioner Mohammed […]
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24 December 2014
FOIA Bill Post Mortem: Mysteries, Multiple Causes
By Toby McIntosh The final days of modest legislation to reform the Freedom of Information Act were surprisingly dramatic. Still lingering as a key mystery is why House Speaker John Boehner refused to bring the bill up, sealing its fate in 2014. Passage was widely considered “a no brainer,” as one supporter put it. Unusual […]
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24 December 2014
Mexican Transparency Law: A Chance to Strengthen Accountability
By Emi MacLean & Adriana García This article appeared Dec. 15 in an Open Society Foundations blog in English and Spanish. The authors work for the Open Society Justice Initiative. It is a measure of the contradictions of Mexico’s political system that the wave of public outrage over the disappearance and presumed murder of […]
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11 December 2014
House Speaker Unaware of Plans to Bring Up FOIA Bill
Republican House Speaker John Boehner Dec. 11 gave no encouragement to supporters of a freedom of information reform bill clinging to hope for last-minute House passage of a bill with no known congressional opponents. “I have no knowledge of what the plan is for that bill,” Boehner said when asked about it by a reporter […]
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11 December 2014
Provision in Mexican Bill Worries Access Activists
Transparency advocates in Mexico are concerned about a provision in pending legislation that could be used to sanction public officials who disclose or order the disclosure of information. The controversial provision was added late in the process to a package that Congress is considering to flesh the constitutional FOI reforms approved earlier this year. (See […]
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11 December 2014
From Open Data to a Right to Data
The following article is reprinted from the Worldwide Web Foundation website where it appeared Dec. 9. For more information, contact Savita Bailur, savita.bailur@webfoundation.org FreedomInfo.org is interested in your reactions to this article. Please send comments to freeinfo@gwu.edu. “Data are the lifeblood of decision-making and the raw material for accountability,” says a new UN report. We couldn’t […]
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8 December 2014
Sen. Rockefeller Defends Objections to Senate FOI Bill
A few more specifics have emerged about the substance of a last-minute debate over a Senate freedom of information bill. Both sides say discussions are ongoing while time is running out. Holding up action on the bill (S 2520) is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W-Va), whose office Dec. 8 provided FreedomInfo.org with a more detailed defense […]