Posts Tagged ‘implementation’
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23 July 2014
The Next Step for Nigerian FOIA: Compliance/Enforcement Stupid!*
By Oluwasegun Obebe The Records, Information & Privacy Officer with the Department of Corrections, Washington, D.C., Obebe previously wrote an article for FreedomInfo.org about the Nigerian FOI law in August 2013. Obebe argues against automatic application of the federal law to the states. FreedomInfo.org has written about a trend toward such application in the courts […]
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19 July 2014
Indian CIC Decides to Give Priority to Senior Citizens
The Indian Central Information Commission has decided to give priority to senior citizens for the resolution of pending right to information cases. The decision made in June was recently reported by Economic Times, without many details. The CIC website does not elaborate. Cases of senior citizens — defined as those being 65 on the date […]
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18 July 2014
Bermuda Takes Steps to Implement 2010 Law
Bermuda’s Premier Michael Dunkley on July 4 tabled the Public Access to Information Regulations 2014 and the Public Access to Information Amendment Bill 2014, according to an article in The Royal Gazette. The implementation regulations and the proposed amendments comes four years since the July 2010 passage of the law. He said the Act will come […]
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18 July 2014
New RTI Law in Maldives Goes Into Effect
The Maldives government is taking steps to implement the new right to information law that went into effect July 12, according to an article in The Sun. The president’s spokesperson Ibrahim Muaz said information officers have been appointed at all government officers and that the president has nominated an Information Commissioner for parliament’s approval.? President […]
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8 July 2014
UK ICO Backs Privacy for Most Requester Names
The United Kingdom’s Information Commissioner’s Office recently said the names of FOI requesters should be kept private, but not always. The comment concerned the three-year practice of the Staffordshire County Council to publish requesters’ letters unredacted. For more read a blog post by Mathew Burgess and another by Jon Baines. The ICO is quoted as […]
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7 July 2014
Study Details Weaknesses in Indian RTI Implementation
Tens of thousands of right to information appeals are pending in India, according to a comprehensive study published by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. More than 66,000 appeals and complaints cases were pending in the only six information commissions where data was available. The Central Information Commission had a total of 21,946 appeals and complaints […]
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7 July 2014
Freeing the US Freedom of Information Act
By Nate Jones This article first appeared in the Detroit News July 3. Jones is the FOIA Coordinator for the National Security Archive. Earlier this year, the Veterans Affairs Administration denied the Tampa Tribune’s Freedom of Information Act request for the names of VA hospitals where veterans died because of delays in medical screenings. To […]
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27 June 2014
Nigerian Courts Upholding FOIA Application in States
The federal freedom of information should apply to the states, according to public interest group, citing a growing number of court decisions supporting that position and objected to a contrary interpretation by an official in the Lagos state government. The Civil Society Network Against Corruption (CSNAC) made the argument in a letter to the Lagos […]
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27 June 2014
Kashmir Commissioner Urges Assembly to Follow RTI Law
Jammu and Kashmir’s Chief Information Commissioner G R Sufi has complained that the Legislative Assembly is not following the Right to Information Act, according to a report by a newspaper. The Assembnly has not created a website to make required proactive disclosures, according to a June 8 article in Greater Kashmir by Dr Raja Muzzafar […]
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20 June 2014
Members Named to FOI Advisory Panel in US
The Archivist of the United States David Ferriero has appointed the 20 members of the new FOIA Advisory Committee. Ten are from within government and 10 from outside. Committee members are appointed to serve two-year terms. The first meeting will be held June 24, according to an announcement. Office of Government Information Services Director Miriam […]
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20 June 2014
Polish FOI Laws, Practices Weak, Evaluation Finds
Poland’s access to information regime is critically evaluated in a report just published in English. “Public institutions too often use a restricted interpretation of the existing regulations,” according to “Waiting for open government.” It was prepared in December of 2013 by the Polish Open Government Coalition as part of an effort to encourage Poland to […]
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16 June 2014
Bangladesh Law Scored at Fifth Birthday Conference
Passage of a right to information law five years ago hasn’t been followed by a culture change within government or among citizens. Assessments of the law came at a forum sponsored by the information commission and bdnews24.com, described in a variety of news reports. “We are trapped in a culture of fear,” said Tahmina Rahman, […]
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6 June 2014
UK ICO Calls Future FOI Funding Critical
By Mathew Burgess Burgess is a UK digital journalist, freelancer and is writing a book on the Freedom of Information Act for journalists. This post appeared June 6 on his blog, FOIA Directory. He can be found tweeting @mattburgess1. The future of funding for Freedom of Information in the UK has reached a ‘critical’ level, […]
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6 June 2014
EC Criticized for Demanding Addresses in Online Requests
Access Info Europe on June 2 charged that the European Commission “is impeding the public’s right to submit access to documents requests via the AsktheEU.org web portal by refusing to register requests which are not accompanied by a postal address.” AsktheEU.org is run by Access Info Europe and forwards users’ requests via email, with requests […]
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6 June 2014
California Voters Reinstate Local Records Law Coverage
California voters June 3 approved a ballot measure requiring local governments to comply with the California Public Records Act (CPRA). Proposition 42 received 61.5 percent for, 38.5 percent against. The measure also mandates that local governments pay the cost of complying with the records and meetings law, an expense the state previously was required to pay, according […]
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5 June 2014
Public Private Partnership Project documents becoming public in India
By Venkatesh Nayak Nayak is Programme Coordinator of the Access to Information Programme at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) has taken the progressive step of uploading concession agreements and progress reports about the Pubic Private Partnership projects (PPPs) under its jurisdiction through the Internet. The links to project […]
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30 May 2014
Model FOIA Regulations Being Drafted in United States
By Lauren Harper This article was published in Unredacted, a blog of the National Security archive, with which FreedomInfo.org is affiliated. Harper is an NSA staff member. The National Security Archive has partnered with our colleagues at the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), and the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), to publish a set […]
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19 May 2014
Access Info Europe Finds Delays in Council Responses
The Council of the European Union responds to information requests in an average of 20 working days, above the 15 days under law, according to a study issued May 19 by Access Info Europe The Council also is applying too many extensions to requests and not informing all requesters of their right to appeal when […]
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2 May 2014
US Must Publish FOIA Releases Online
By Lauren Harper This article was first published on the National Security Archive blog Unredacted. Harper is an Archive staff member. The US was the first country to enact a modern Freedom of Information Act, and was the model other countries looked towards when crafting their own FOI laws. Now, however, the US lags behind the […]
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25 April 2014
Transparency International Scores EU Transparency
An adequate legal foundation for transparency exists in the European Union, but it is undercut in ways that foster corruption risks, according to a new 248-page report by Transparency International. The EU Integrity System report issued April 24 evaluates 10 EU institutions and bodies regarding transparency, accountability, independence, integrity and other factors. A solid legal foundation, […]