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8 NOVEMBER 2007
European Ombudsman Finds Maladministration by European Commission for Failure to Produce Annual Report

Acting on a complaint brought by the European watchdog group Statewatch, the European Ombudsman this week found maladministration by the European Commission for its failure to produce an annual report of access to documents for 2005.  The Commission had claimed that inadequate staff and other obligations made it impossible to comply with the legal obligation to produce the report.  In a strongly worded rebuke, the Ombudsman stated that “the instance of maladministration revealed by the present inquiry is especially deplorable since the publication of reports is a key mechanism of accountability to, and communication with, European citizens.”  Tony Bunyan, Statewatch editor, comments: “The Commission is the custodian of EU law and as such has an absolute duty to carry out its obligations under the Regulation. Not to do so sets a very bad example to the myriad of agencies and bodies which have been, or will be, set up across the EU.”

Read more about the case on the Statewatch Web site.

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FOI NEWS ARCHIVE: 2004 | 2003

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17 JULY 2008
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17 JULY 2008
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18 JANUARY 2008
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12 DECEMBER 2007
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8 NOVEMBER 2007
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7 NOVEMBER 2007
Council of Europe committee puts off decision on draft access to information convention, permits more time for input and improvements

6 AUGUST 2007
U.S. Congress Passes Freedom of Information Act Reform Bill

20 JUNE 2007
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20 JUNE 2007
Argentina Celebrates First "National Right to Public Information" Week: May 20-27, 2007

21 MAY 2007
International FOI Advocates Protest Draft Amendments that would Weaken Bulgarian Public Information Act

19 APRIL 2007
European Commissionn proposes reforms, seeks public input on greater access to EU documents

15 MARCH 2007
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15 MARCH 2007
MEXICO: Civil society observes first annual Mexico Abierto

9 FEBRUARY 2007
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12 OCTOBER 2006
Inter-American Court Finds Fundamental Right of Access to Information

28 SEPTEMBER 2006
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22 SEPTEMBER 2006
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7 SEPTEMBER 2006
Australia: High Court Sides with Bureaucrats, Rolling Back Right to Information

31 AUGUST 2006
UPDATE: Victory for Right to Information in India

18 AUGUST 2006
INDIA: Right to Information in Jeopardy

18 AUGUST 2006
MEXICO: Newsweekly Asks for Access to Contested Ballots, Uses Access to Information Act to Request Independent Count

14 JULY 2006
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31 MAY 2006
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22 MARCH 2006   
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8 JULY 2005
GERMANY: Bundesrat passes Freedom of Information Act, but questions remain

29 JUNE 2005
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24 MAY 2005
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21 FEBRUARY 2005
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SERBIA: Parliament adopts access law

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14 MAY 2004
INDIA: The largest democratic election in human history

20 APRIL 2004
CHINA: Shanghai advances cause of open government information

23 FEBRUARY 2004
ARMENIA: Amendments threaten to undermine FOI law

14 JULY 2003
CHINA: China's pioneering foray into open government: A tale of two cities

DECEMBER 2002
INDIA: Parliament approves freedom of information bill

8 AUGUST 2002
PERU: New freedom of information law approved


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