Posts Tagged ‘rti amendments’
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23 April 2013
Amended State Secrecy Bill Nears Passage in South Africa
A modified version of the Protection of State Information Bill appears on the verge of passing in South Africa. The National Assembly may take up the bill April 25 following the April 22 approval by an ad hoc committee. The committee endorsed amendments made by the other body of parliament, the National Council of Provinces. […]
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17 April 2013
Opposition Builds in Denmark to FOI Amendment Proposal
Opposition is growing in Parliament to the ruling coalition’s proposal to reduce public access to government documents, according to an April 16 article by Christian Wenande in The Copenhagen Post. The intended amendments to the freedom of information act (offentlighedslov) had generated some criticism before, but appeared to stand a good chance of passage because […]
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5 April 2013
Panama to Grant Autonomy to New Transparency Body
The Government of Panama has announced that will propose creation of an autonomous access to information and transparency authority, according to media accounts, including a lainformacion.com report. The bill that will be sent to the National Assembly would create an independent National Authority for Transparency and Access to Information that would take over from the current Executive […]
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29 March 2013
Chilean Senators Propose RTI Provision for Constitution
A group of Chilean senators has proposed to add a right to information to the Chilean Constitution. The proposal was made by senators Hernan Larrain, Isabel Allende, Soledad Alvear, José Ruminot Garcia and Eugenio Tuma and was sent to the Constitution Committee for further discussion. The three-year-old access to public information law needs buttressing, the […]
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20 March 2013
South African Secrecy Bill Faces Procedural Hurdle
Opponents of the Protection of State Information Bill in South Africa are hoping to use a procedural complication to thwart action on the controversial bill, according to an article in The Independent. Opposition parties recently asserted that the legislation must revert to square one because it was incorrectly labeled as not affecting provincial governments. The […]
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14 March 2013
U.S. Sunshine Week Brings Legislation, Many Reports
Sunshine Week in the United States March 11-15 prompted congressional hearings, new and recycled legislative proposals and numerous reports on the status of freedom of information. In the House of Representatives, a draft FOI bill was offered by Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), a rare […]
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8 March 2013
Bahrain Moves to Protect Government Secrets
Bahrain’s Council of Representatives passed a law March 5 to protect government secrets, according to a March 6 article by Mohammed al a’ali in the Gulf Daily News. The law will criminalize leaks and the unauthorized distribution of sensitive documents. “It was passed despite strong opposition from several MPs, including parliament legislative and legal affairs […]
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8 March 2013
Activists Launch Petition; Austria Offers Draft Law
The Austrian government has offered first-draft freedom of information legislation, a move coming as activists pursue an online petition drive for FOI reform. A civil society initiative, Transparenzgesetz .at, has been supported by more than 7,600 people. The campaign for freedom of information in Austria was founded by former journalist Josef Barth and the anti-corruption […]
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1 March 2013
South Africa Sets June Deadline for Secrecy Bill
Final action on the “secrecy bill” in South Africa has again been delayed. The ad hoc committee of the National Assembly has been given until June 20 to finish its work on the Protection of State Information Bill, which would regulate the classification of state information. The most recent action on the bill was its […]
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25 February 2013
Austria, With Worst Rated RTI Law, Resists Reform
The country with the lowest-rated right to information law in the world has told a European human rights watchdog that it does not need to improve the law. Austria came in 93rd out of 93 countries, according to the Global RTI Rating done by Access Info Europe (AIE) and the Centre for Law and Democracy […]
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22 February 2013
FOI Supporters Organize Against UK Amendments
Opponents of government proposals to amend the freedom of information law in the United Kingdom are organizing their campaign. Plans include an online petition and efforts to lobby members of parliament, leaders of the opposition Campaign for Freedom of Information announced Feb. 18, This and commentary on the proposals is contained in a report by Matt […]
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22 February 2013
President of El Salvador Vetoes Access Amendments
President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador Feb. 14 quickly vetoed controversial amendments to the country’s Access to Public Information Law The president vetoed the legislation within a few hours of receiving it. Later in the evening the National Assembly accepted it and archived the proposal. On Feb. 16 the president said that he will soon […]
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15 February 2013
President of El Salvador to Veto Access Law Changes
President Mauricio Funes of El Salvador has decided to veto controversial amendments (text in Spanish) to the country’s Access to Public Information Law (ATPIL), according to an article in Diaro la Pagina. The changes (text in Spanish) were passed Feb. 8 by the National Assembly. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Critics had called on the president to […]
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15 February 2013
Croatia Adopts New Freedom of Information Law
Croatia has adopted a new freedom of information law that a leading advocate said “encompasses highest standards of transparency and oversight.” “After almost 10 months of intensive work within working group of the Ministry of Administration, public consultations, additional advocacy, research and lobbying, following several years of advocacy campaigns by civil society organizations and experts in […]
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15 February 2013
Proposed Danish FOI Revisions Draw Criticisms
By Staffan Dahllöf This article appeared in Wobbing Europe with headline “Yes-minister-law to hide political documents from the public.” Denmark’s reputation as a pro-transparent country is at stake, warns leading expert in media law Oluf Jørgensen: “This will draw international attention,” he says, pointing at a unique possibility to conceal reports from a minister to […]
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8 February 2013
El Salvador Legislature Amends Access Law
The Legislative Assembly in El Salvador on Feb. 8 passed amendments to the 2010 access law that critics say will weaken it, according to sources and a media account (in Spanish) in La Prensa. The proposed changes (in Spanish) were submitted Feb. 7 by representatives of the ruling party, FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la […]
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8 February 2013
Acceso a la información en El Salvador: el secreto contrataca
By Natalia Torres Torres is Investigadora Principal del CELE Para quienes promovemos el derecho a saber las leyes que lo regulan son muy importantes. Haber conseguido su aprobación, haber logrado que sus artículos respeten principios y estándares internacionales son batallas que nos enorgullecen. Y hacemos bien: la aprobación de una ley nacional de acceso a la información […]
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8 February 2013
Danish Government Seeks To Protect Decision Documents
The Danish government Feb. 7 officially presented changes to the freedom of information law that were negotiated in late 2012 among the leading political parties. Particular controversial are amendments that would reduce access to documents prepared by government officials about the creation of government policy, according to a newspaper report. “The justice minister, Morten Bødskov (Socialdemokraterne), explained […]
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4 February 2013
FOI OK for Courts, But Not New Zealand Parliament
The New Zealand government has said it is willing to apply the Official Information Act to the administrative functions of the courts, but will not support having it extended to cover Parliament. Justice Minister Judith Collins Feb. 4 gave the government’s responses to recommendations from the Law Commission in July of 2012, supporting many of […]
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21 January 2013
Scotland FOI Modifications Disappoint Reformers
The Scottish Parliament has passed amendments to the freedom of information law, but only made what critics called a “timid” move toward expanding its scope as sought by reformers. The bill approved Jan. 16 would strengthen enforcement against destruction of documents and unify at 15 years the time frame for releasing historical documents. However, it would not extend the […]