Posts Tagged ‘implementation’
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9 October 2014
Is alleged misconduct by a public official deserving of privacy protection?
By Peter Timmins The author writes the Australian website Open and Shut, where this article was published Oct. 6. A companion article Oct. 7 says that when it comes to the the performance of normal governmental functions, sensitivity about disclosing names of officials “should usually take a back seat to transparency, responsibility and accountability. I’d […]
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1 October 2014
Criticisms Mount Against South African Government
The Right2Know Campaign in South Africa Sept 28 called on President Zuma to refuse to sign the controversial “secrecy bill” that has been on his desk for 316 days and questioned the government’s leadership role in the Open Government Partnership. The Right2Know Campaign also urged Parliament to revoke the apartheid-era 1982 Protection of Information Act and to write a new classification […]
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1 October 2014
Two Pakistani Provinces Resisting New RTI Laws
The bureaucracies in the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) are offering “stiff resistance” to the new right to information laws, according to the Centre for Peace and Development Initiative (CPDI). Information was withheld in over 87 per cent of the requests, the group said. CPDI sent in 924 information requests to the governments […]
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30 September 2014
Progress, But Still Problems, Says Serbian Commissioner
This article, published Sept. 30, is reprinted with permission from infoserbia.com. BELGRADE – Serbia has made certain progress in the area of freedom of access to information of public importance, but the fact that the office of the commissioner for information of public importance and personal data protection continues to receive a large number of […]
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11 September 2014
FOI Center of Armenia Issues Comprehensive Evaluation
Using a new and comprehensive assessment tool, the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia has evaluated and compared the level of transparency and openness of the Armenian government bodies. The center used 53 criteria to create the transparency ratings and plans to repeat the study annually. Thirty-seven state administration bodies were evaluated this year including […]
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11 September 2014
Appointments Said to Violate New Law in Sierra Leone
The appointment of a government appointee as the first chief information commissioner and the selection of an executive secretary for the commission by the president of Sierra Leone violate the new law, according to Emmanuel Saffa Abdulai, Executive Director of the Society for Democratic Initiatives. In a letter to President Ernest Bai Koroma, Abdulai said […]
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10 September 2014
Report Scores South Africa For `Failing’ on Access
“Access to information mechanisms are failing” in South Africa, according to a new report by the Right2Know Campaign. Using the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) “often proves to be a frustration that is symptomatic of resistance to openness from information holders,” according to “Secret State of the Nation” for 2014. Monitoring indicates “that […]
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10 September 2014
World Bank Sees Gaps on Data About Access
Data about national right to information systems is weak and widely varied, according to a World Bank report unveiled Sept. 10, and there’s a need for “a global dialogue on reporting standards.” “It is very import to get the information so you can improve the process if it is not working,” said Stephanie E. Trapnell, […]
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21 August 2014
Wacky FOI Requests? Really? Sinister Motive? Possibly
Media outlets worldwide recently ran a story about the “top 10” wacky FOI requests in the United Kingdom – including requests about dragon attacks and preparations for astroid attacks. Subsequently, however, the motives of the list-maker have been critically examined and the seeming oddness of the requests has been called into question. The motive? The […]
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21 August 2014
Bangladesh Needs Transparency in Picking New Commissioners
By Suchismita Goswami The author is Project Officer, Access to Information Programme, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. This article appeared The Daily Star Aug. 21. Two out of three posts at the Bangladesh Information Commission are lying vacant for the past month. The government knew they were falling vacant when information commissioners Sadeka Halim and MA […]
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21 August 2014
Several Proposals in UK Would Change Procedures
The senior president of tribunals in the United Kingdom, Sir Jeremy Sullivan, has proposed that in some situations a judge alone could handle information rights cases. Now, two lay people experienced in information law generally sit alongside a judge, according to a summary on a website run by a law firm, Pinset Mason. “It does […]
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21 August 2014
Network Rail to Be Blocked From UK FOI
By Mathew Burgess The author writes the blog FOI Directory where this article first appeared Aug. 15. Since publication, the Train Drivers’ Union issued a statement. Network Rail is due to be reclassified as a public body on 1st September however it is being reported that David Cameron will block its inclusion in the Freedom […]
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20 August 2014
The CIA Resisting Disclosure About Policy Change
By Nate Jones The author is a staff member at the National Security Archive, the parent organization of FreedomInfo.org, and writes the blog Unredacted where this article appeared Aug. 19 under the title “The CIA Misapplies FOIA Exemptions to Continue its Covert Attack on Mandatory Declassification Review. And Why it Matters.” On Friday September 23, […]
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14 August 2014
Indian CIC Backs Disclosure of Whistleblower Complaints
India’s Central Information Commission (CIC) has supported the release of information about whistleblowers’ allegations, The decision came in a case in which Venkatesh Nayak of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative asked the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) for details of complaints against government servants received under the Public Interest Disclosure and Protection of Informers (PIDPI) Resolution, also […]
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14 August 2014
Making Progress on Freedom of Information in Africa
By Chidi Odinkalu and Maxwell Kadiri The authors are with the Open Society Justice Initiative. This article was published Aug. 13. Odinkalu is senior legal officer for the Africa regional work of the Open Society Justice Initiative. Kadiri is associate legal officer on the Africa regional work of the Open Society Justice Initiative. In the decade […]
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7 August 2014
Indian Water Resources Body Denies Access to Material
The Water Resources Department in the Indian state of Kerala has ordered that documents and information related to inter-state water issues not be disclosed under the Right to Information Act, according to an article in the Deccan Chronicle and another in the Hindu. A July 22 departmental order cites Section 8 of the RTI Act. […]
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7 August 2014
Australian Commissioner Exempts Incoming Government Briefs
By Peter Timmins The following article appeared Aug. 4 in Open and Shut, Timmins’ blog about FOI in Australia. The decisions by Australian Information Commissioner Professor McMillan in Parnell & Dreyfus, and Crowe on the exempt status of incoming government briefs (IGB) under the Freedom of Information Act will please those in government who argue […]
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4 August 2014
OGIS Begins Posting its Final Response Letters
By Nate Jones This article is reprinted from the blog Unredacted, edited by Jones. Unredacted, like FreedomInfo.org, is published by the National Security Archive. The Office of Government Information Services (OGIS), the federal FOIA ombuds office that provides assistance in FOIA disputes, has begun posting its final response letters to FOIA problems it has mediated. To date, OGIS has […]
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31 July 2014
Indian State Commissioner Imposes Fines on 4 Officials
A state information commissioner in Andhra Pradesh is pushing for officials to comply with the Right to Information Act and imposing fines. Commissioner P Vijaya Babu at a press conference July 28 said he has asked the chief secretary of Andhra Pradesh to require that officials respond to the applications, according to a report in […]
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24 July 2014
Ideas in Liberia Aim to Help Women Access Information
Recommendations for addressing inequities that Liberian women face in the exercise of the right of information were developed at a July 10, 2014, meeting of 47 government representatives, traditional community leaders, and civil society representatives. A meeting was an extension of a Carter Center project that resulted in a study “Women and the Right of […]