What’s New
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22 November 2003
THAILAND: Anti-graft Agency Exempt from Official Information Act?
The Bangkok Post reports that the Official Information Commission will seek a Constitution Court ruling on whether the anti-graft agency was exempt from article 40 of the Official Information Act making it disclose state information. Rongpol Charoenphan, Prime Minister’s Office’s deputy permanent secretary, said the meeting, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngam, discussed the […]
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12 November 2003
JAPAN: Supreme Court Overturns Disclosure Ruling
The Asahi Shimbun (Japan) reports that the Supreme Court has overturned a high court decision ordering the disclosure of the names and titles of private citizens wined and dined by the Osaka municipal government in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The case involves a June 1992 request by the citizens group Mihariban for records […]
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11 November 2003
PHILIPPINES: Court Workers Sing, Dance For Transparency
SunStar Network (Philippines) reports that court employees, instead of chanting protest lines, sang old-time favorites and danced to boogey tunes as they demanded transparency in the disbursement of the Judiciary Development Fund (JDF). Wearing red shirts or red armbands, the court employees called for a salary increase and transparency in the disbursement of the Judiciary […]
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1 November 2003
JAMAICA: Senate Passes Access to Information Bill
The Jamaica Observer reports that the Senate has finally passed The Access to Information Amendment Bill and the accompanying regulations after several weeks of debate fueled by the opposition. In the end, the modified Bill was passed unanimously. The Act, which is aimed at bringing greater transparency to Government by giving the public access to […]
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14 October 2003
The Freedom of Information Campaign in Argentina
[See also “The Transparency Labyrinth in Argentina” by María Baron, 13 APRIL 2004] Buenos Aires-based journalist Martha Farmelo reports for freedominfo.org on Argentina’s current campaign for a freedom of information law, which was passed in May 2003 by the lower house of the national congress and is now pending in the senate. Farmelo describes the […]
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11 October 2003
“The Right to Know is Gaining around the World”
by Thomas Blanton The International Herald Tribune, October 11, 2003, p. 6 Last month (September 23, 2003), Armenia became the 51st country in the world to guarantee its citizens the right to know what their government is up to. Armenia’s new freedom of information law is the latest outpost of the worldwide movement towards opening […]
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5 October 2003
REPORT: Fiji Debates Freedom of Information Proposal Citizens’ Group Launches Draft Law
The Citizens’ Constitutional Forum in Fiji has launched a public debate in the South Pacific nation over the unfulfilled requirement in the Fiji Constitution for a freedom of information law. Together with the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme in Suva, the CCF held a public FOI workshop on September 30, 2004 and released […]
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4 October 2003
JAMAICA: More Delays on Access to Information
The Jamaica Gleaner reports that the Jamaican Senate will not be debating the amendment to the Access to Information Act until the regulations governing its long-awaited implementation have been presented. The amendment, entitled the Access to Information Amendment Act 2003, was however tabled in the Upper House yesterday (October 3). Last week the Government announced […]
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23 September 2003
Armenian Parliament Adopts FOI Law
The Association of Investigative Journalists of Armenia reports that the Armenian Freedom of Information Law has been adopted by the National Parliament today with all 100 NP’s voting in support of the law. The text of the law can be found here.
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22 September 2003
REPORT: Freedom of Information in Ireland: Five Years On
The leading freedom of information expert in Ireland, Maeve McDonagh of University College Cork, reviews the first five years of the Irish law, passed in 1997 and implemented in 1998, and deconstructs the latest amendments, from April 2003, that roll back parts of the law. In addition to a penetrating analysis of the statute, Professor […]
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13 September 2003
JAMAICA: Access to Information Access Law Will Have Major Impact
The Jamaican Observer reports on the Access to Information Act which goes into effect on October 1. According to members of The Carter Centre, “the rules of the game” in government have changed by giving Jamaicans access to official documents that previously were inaccessible. “This is a law that can change lives, and it can […]
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8 September 2003
The Birth of the Freedom of Information Act in Japan: Kanagawa 1982
Lawrence Repeta of the Information Clearinghouse Japan board of directors reports on the 20-year experience with freedom of information in Kanagawa prefecture — the most influential early Japanese access law, passed in 1982, two decades before the national FOI law. Download the entire report in Adobe PDF format: The Birth of the Freedom of Information […]
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25 August 2003
THAILAND: Deputy PM Discusses Official Information Act
The Bangkok Post reports on the Thai Deputy Prime Minister Visanu Krue-ngam’s recent remarks at the at the United Nations building on the Official Information Act. Kruengam stated that when the act was first introduced, state agencies had complied strictly with the law requiring them to disclose official information on public demand. But as time […]
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14 July 2003
China’s Pioneering Foray Into Open Government: A Tale of Two Cities
By Jamie P. Horsley Guangzhou Municipal Provisions on Open Government Information (Decree No. 8 of the Guangzhou Municipal People’s Government dated November 6, 2002) (PDF – 158 KB) China’s initial reticence in sharing information about the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic highlighted anew the culture of secrecy that has for centuries shrouded the Chinese […]
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9 June 2003
JAMAICA: Information Act on Target
The Jamaican Observer reports that the first phase of the Access to Information Act is still on target for its October deadline, according to Information Minister Burchell Whiteman. We have a hard-working and effective unit, within the archives division of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), working overtime to provide the co-ordination, direction and […]
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9 May 2003
JAPAN: Public Highway Corporation Spends Over 1 million Yen to Treat Politicians
The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that the Japan Public Highway Corporation spent a total of 1.47 million yen to wine and dine 11 lawmakers on 17 different occasions between fiscal 2001 and 2002. Documents, obtained under the Japanese Information Disclosure law, show that the public corporation spent about 77 million yen on entertainment, including the meetings […]
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22 April 2003
JAPAN: Open Archives Scare Ministries
The Asahi Shimbun (Japan) reports that government officials in Japan, hesitant to release files to public scrutiny, have been hoarding documents by extending their supposed “preservation periods,’ since an information disclosure law made archive records more open to the public Experts view this as a less than auspicious response by bureaucrats to the vaunted disclosure […]
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3 April 2003
SOUTH KOREA: Government to Release Portions of Cabinet Meetings
The Seoul Yonha, a Semi-official news agency in in the Republic of Korea, reports that the Government Administration and Home Affairs Ministry will begin to make sections of the minutes of Cabinet meetings available to the public. According to Kim Doo-kwan, the Home Affairs Minister, “We will open the minutes of Cabinet meetings to the […]
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7 February 2003
UZBEKISTAN: New FOIA Comes Into Force
CAFSCEN.org reports that a new law on freedom of information has come into effect in Uzbekistan recently. The law “On Principles and Guarantees of Freedom of Information” which was accepted by Parliament in December, 2002 has become operational. UPDATE 2/10/03 CAFSCEN.org now reports that the Uzbekistan Government has officially declared its intentions to “Counteract” any […]
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21 January 2003
BULGARIA: Dispute Erupts over Andreev Archive
The Bulgarian online news resource, novinite.com reports that the Sofia police, on orders of the district governor, have helped the newly formed State Commission on Information Security take over the offices of the so-called Andreev Commission, which was set up after the fall of communism to look into the dossiers compiled by the communist special […]