What’s New
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8 March 2013
Bahrain Moves to Protect Government Secrets
Bahrain’s Council of Representatives passed a law March 5 to protect government secrets, according to a March 6 article by Mohammed al a’ali in the Gulf Daily News. The law will criminalize leaks and the unauthorized distribution of sensitive documents. “It was passed despite strong opposition from several MPs, including parliament legislative and legal affairs […]
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8 March 2013
FOI Notes: U.S. Sunshine Week, Trade Transparency, Defining Open Government
United States: A rundown of Sunshine Week (March 10-16) events by Gavin Baker of the Center for Effective Government, on a new blog, The Fine Print. Also see Sunshine Week website. United States: The Project On Government Oversight and partner organizations have released Highlighted Best Practices for Openness and Accountability, a report providing examples of […]
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8 March 2013
Plans Hatched to Examine Transparency, Accountability
The creation of a “community of practice” around transparency and accountability is a major goal stemming from a meeting of “an enthusiastic group of funders, civil society organizations, and researchers from all over the world,” according to the convening body, the London-based Transparency and Accountability Initiative (T/AI). Attention will be focused on how to make […]
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8 March 2013
The Hobbit and Commercial Information: A Cautionary Tale
By Dani Gardiner Gardiner is a senior associate with the New Zealand law firm ChenPalmer. The recent decision of Ombudsman David McGee concerning The Hobbit documents stands as a reminder to businesses to exercise care when disclosing commercially sensitive information to the Government. The Ombudsman found that the Government was not entitled to withhold a […]
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8 March 2013
Activists Launch Petition; Austria Offers Draft Law
The Austrian government has offered first-draft freedom of information legislation, a move coming as activists pursue an online petition drive for FOI reform. A civil society initiative, Transparenzgesetz .at, has been supported by more than 7,600 people. The campaign for freedom of information in Austria was founded by former journalist Josef Barth and the anti-corruption […]
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7 March 2013
FOI Notes: OGP, Measuring Governance, Italy, Spain
OGP: The latest OGP civil society newsletter begins: There seems to be a mini epidemic going on in Europe and spreading to Africa of civil society forming coalitions that seek to work together and persuade governments to join OGP. I mentioned Ireland before, where a group called Active Citizen took the lead and might be […]
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7 March 2013
FOI Notes: Profiles of Indian RTI Activists, Job Openings, Articles, Resources
India: Profiles in Mumbai Boss of three RTI filers, including one who has made 10,000 requests. Short, but good reading. A snippet: For Kothari, filing RTI applications seems to be an obsessive hobby. But if it wasn’t for him, perhaps we wouldn’t know that 168 policemen committed suicide between 2002 and 2012, that only four […]
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7 March 2013
World Bank Study Focuses on RTI Implementaton Issues
Right to information laws “will accomplish little” in poor countries, according to the author of new World Bank study, “unless concerted efforts are made to address the broader enabling environment, and appropriate capacity building strategies are devised.” The report by Anupama Dokeniya is based on individual research studies of implementation in eight countries: Albania, […]
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7 March 2013
Portuguese Government Resists Disclosing Key Study
The Portuguese government has refused to release a study about a controversial policy proposal. Defying a recommendation for disclosure from the Commission on Access to Administrative Documents (CADA), the government has relied on another legal standard to keep the study confidential. The government is basing its refusal on Section 11.1 of the Rules of Procedure […]
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7 March 2013
Access and Privacy: Where Do We Draw the Line?
By Robert Freeman Freeman is Executive Director of the Committee on Open Government, a unit housed in the New York State Department of State that oversees and advises the government, public, and news media on Freedom of Information, Open Meetings, and Personal Privacy Protection Laws. He was a close observer when the state of New […]
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4 March 2013
Open Data Day Expands Entries in Data Census
The Open Data Census, an almost one-year-old project of the Open Knowledge Foundation, has been increased in size and scope, now including datasets from 25 cities as well as 48 countries, plus rankings. The census was promoted around the recent Open Data Day 2013 activities and expanded by volunteer contributors who use the data submission […]
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1 March 2013
South Africa Sets June Deadline for Secrecy Bill
Final action on the “secrecy bill” in South Africa has again been delayed. The ad hoc committee of the National Assembly has been given until June 20 to finish its work on the Protection of State Information Bill, which would regulate the classification of state information. The most recent action on the bill was its […]
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1 March 2013
FOI Notes: Human Rights, Research Announcement, Budget Transparency, Russia
Article: “The Right to Information in International Human Rights Law,” by Maeve McDonagh, Professor of Law, University College Cork, Ireland, in Human Rights Law Review. Abstract: This article explores the conceptual basis for the recognition of a right to information. It commences by reviewing developments in the recognition of a right to information in international […]
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28 February 2013
Rights Commission Approves Model African RTI Law
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has approved an African Model Law on Right to Information. Approval came at an “Extraordinary Session” of the Commission in Banjul, The Gambia, over the weekend of Feb. 23-24, culminated a long process. An announcement is expected from the Commission’s Special Rapporteur on Access to Information in […]
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27 February 2013
President of El Salvador Names Institute Members
President of El Salvador Mauricio Funes on Feb. 23 appointed the five members of the Access to Public Information Institute after a delay of more than a year. The president had previous rejected as unqualified the candidates chosen last January through an unusual nomination process. Candidates were elected by open assemblies of five sectors: universities, […]
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27 February 2013
Irish Court Says NAMA Covered by Disclosure Rule
The Irish Court Feb. 27 held that the National Assets Management Agency is a public authority subject to freedom of information requests. Environmental Information Commissioner Emily O’Reilly has issued such ruling in September 2011, but NAMA appealed, argued that it is not a “public authority.” NAMA is a government-backed financial body established to help bail […]
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27 February 2013
Zambia Again Delays Introduction of FOI Bill
The government of Zambia says a freedom of information bill will be submitted in June, continuing a pattern of delay in unveiling a bill. In December, a key Zambian minister promised that a bill would be presented to Parliament in the first quarter of 2013, according to a newspaper report. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Now the same minister […]
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25 February 2013
Austria, With Worst Rated RTI Law, Resists Reform
The country with the lowest-rated right to information law in the world has told a European human rights watchdog that it does not need to improve the law. Austria came in 93rd out of 93 countries, according to the Global RTI Rating done by Access Info Europe (AIE) and the Centre for Law and Democracy […]
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25 February 2013
Japan Needs Dose of Cameron’s Transparency Medicine
By Joel Rheuben Rheuben is an Australian lawyer resident in Japan. He was previously an associate in the Tokyo office of Herbert Smith Freehills, and is currently pursuing postgraduate studies in law at the University of Tokyo. As recently reported on FreedomInfo.org, UK Prime Minister David Cameron will stress commitment to transparency as a goal for this […]
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23 February 2013
OGP Leaders Decide Against Reacting to National Issues
The Steering Committee of the Open Government Partnership will only comment on national controversies in several defined “exceptional circumstances,” according to a Feb. 21 statement. The two-page statement comes in the wake of a request that the Steering Committee “signal” disappointment that the Philippines, a Steering Committee member, failed to pass freedom of information legislation. […]