Posts Tagged ‘implementation’
-
2 March 2012
Liberia, Carter Center Combine on Implementation
In an effort to help implement the 2010 Liberian freedom of information act, the government Feb. 27 renewed a memorandum of understanding with the U.S. -based Carter Center to provide assistance. The Carter Center’s work in Liberia is supported by the United States Agency for International Development. The Carter Center and the Liberian government will […]
-
17 February 2012
Indian CIC Orders Agency to Post More on Website
The Indian Central Information Commission has told the Ministry of Environment & Forests to put more information on its website. The Jan. 18 decision by Commissioner Sailesh Gandhi resulted from a complaint brought by Shibani Ghosh of The Access Initiative India Coalition (TAI India) arguing that certain categories of information should be available on the […]
-
16 February 2012
RTI Implementation: Comparing Experiences in Southeast Asia
By Chiranjibi Kafle The writer is Head, Department of English, RR Campus, Kathmandu. This article was originally published in Republica and is reprinted with permission. More than 90 countries in the world today have introduced Right to Information (RTI) legislations to safeguard people´s access to public information. But the implementation part has not been smooth. […]
-
10 February 2012
Nepal Backs Off Implementing Controversial Access Restrictions
The government of Nepal has decided not to implement a controversial classification scheme following strong objections from civil society groups that it would undercut access to information. The prime minister has “assured” the leaders of groups protesting the planned changes that there will be wider stakeholders’ consultation before having new classification, according to an announcement […]
-
6 February 2012
State Actions Undermine Right to Information in India
Some Indian states are making it harder for applicants to use the Right to Information law, according to a series of recent news reports. To the distress of RTI activists, states are: – imposing higher fees, – requiring statements of justification for requests, – asking that photographs accompany applications, and – making appeals administratively slower. […]
-
3 February 2012
FOI Training for Government Officials: Main Trends
By Natalia Torres Torres is Senior Researcher for the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE) in Argentina. See this article in Spanish. CELE has just released a brief note on access to information training for government officials. The note, elaborated by Natalia Torres and Luis Esquivel, describes different approaches […]
-
3 February 2012
Acceso a la información: principales tendencias en la capacitación de funcionarios
Por Natalia Torres Investigadora Principal del CELE El CELE acaba de publicar una breve documento sobre capacitación de funcionarios en acceso a la información pública. El documento, elaborado por Natalia Torres y Luis Esquivel, describe las diferentes estrategias utilizadas por los gobiernos para asegurar que sus funcionarios se encuentren preparados para la implementación de las […]
-
3 February 2012
Liberian Court Urged to Make Disclosures Under FOI Law
Liberia’s Criminal Court ‘A’ has so far declined to disclose evidence in a media-related case, prompting a complaint by the Press Union of Liberia about the denial under the Freedom of Information Act of Liberia. “The Union says it is beyond 60 days since it requested the Court to provide copies of the species of […]
-
31 January 2012
Nepalese Information Classification Called Excessive, Illegal
The government of Nepal has classified as confidential 140 types of information, sparking protests and legal actions. The classifications by a three-person committee came into force on Jan. 15, without promised consultations, and the scope of the secrecy extends beyond the scope of allowable exemptions contained in the RTI Act Section 3, according to Tanka Aryal, […]
-
30 January 2012
Under Obama, FOIA Is Still in Shackles
By Trevor Timm Timm is an activist at the Electronic Frontier Foundation who specializes in free speech issues and government transparency. He also curates the Twitter account @WLLegal that reports on legal news surrounding WikiLeaks, the right to publish classified information, and other freedom of the press issues. This article was first published Jan. 30, […]
-
19 January 2012
Indian Commission to List Pending Cases on Website
The Indian Central Information Commission has started making public on its website a list of pending cases. The new feature, at the top of left column, began Jan. 9 and will be updated monthly. Shailesh Gandhi, one of the five central information commissioners, said this will “reassure citizens that there is fairness in taking up […]
-
13 January 2012
US Creating FOI Portal for All Agencies
The United States is nearing creation of a multi-agency portal that automates freedom of information processing and reporting, stores FOIA requests and responses in a repository and keeps records electronically, according to a blog post on the site of the national FOIA ombudsman. The site to go live in the fall of 2012 will allow […]
-
6 January 2012
Nepal Group Seeks Info From Political Parties
The Nepalese group Freedom Forum is using the right to information law to request information from political parties. The group is relying on a provision in the RTI Act of 2007 including political parties as “public agencies” required to disclose information. Freedom Forum said Jan 3 that it has sought the following information with the […]
-
20 December 2011
What’s Ailing RTI? Resource Issues Plague Indian Law
By Shonali Ghosal Ghosal is a correspondent with Tehelka magazine, based in New Delhi, which published this article in its Dec. 24 edition. Following is an interview with Shailesh Gandhi, a Central Information Commissioner. (Reprinted with permission.) The mere suggestion of any amendment to the Right to Information (RTI) Act, 2005, sends civil society into […]
-
17 November 2011
Half of FOI Laws Not Working, AP Concludes
“More than half the countries with right-to-know laws do not follow them,” the Associated Press concluded after conducting an international test of access laws. AP reporters submitted questions in January “about terrorism arrests and convictions, vetted by experts, to the European Union and the 105 countries with right-to-know laws or constitutional provisions.” The results are […]
-
4 November 2011
Websites Proliferate to Generate FOI Requests
By Toby McIntosh AsktheEU, Fragen de Stat, InformataZyrtare.org, spinfo, Acceso Inteligente, and Queremos Saber. These names reflect six new websites that allow requesters to draft and file freedom of information requests online. Plus, they they track the requests and archive the answers. All were launched in the past few months, doubling the number of sites that […]
-
11 October 2011
The Outsourcing of Federal FOIA Services
By Clara Hogan Reprinted by permission of the Reporters Committee for the Freedom of the Press, a U.S. nonprofit organization which published this article Sept. 7. Your federal Freedom of Information Act request may not actually be processed by a government employee. With pressure for increased transparency from the Obama administration, many federal agencies, including […]
-
3 October 2011
Getting Ukrainians to Use Their Right to Information
By Dmytro Derkach Derkach is a communications officer with the World Bank Office in Ukraine. This article appeared first on the Bank website CommGap. The Ukrainian Law on Access to Public Information came into force on May 9, 2011. Before this new law was adopted by the Ukrainian Parliament, international bodies had described the effective […]
-
28 September 2011
Web Portal to Facilitate Information Requests to EU
A web portal to facilitate public information requests to the European Union was unveiled Sept. 28 by the pro-transparency human rights group Access Info Europe. AsktheEU.org “is designed to radically simplify the process by which the public puts requests to European Union bodies,” the group said in an announcement. An email is sent from the […]
-
27 September 2011
Provincial Variation Apparent in Canadian FOIA Audit
Response time to freedom of information varies among the Canadian provinces, according to the latest version of The National Freedom of Information Audit, sponsored by Newspapers Canada. Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Yukon were the fastest responders, while British Columbia was the slowest, according to the report, which includes A-F grades along with “bricks” […]