What’s New
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4 June 2015
Tunisian Committee Passes Access to Information Bill
Parliament’s Committee on Rights and Freedoms in Tunisia on June 3 adopted a bill on the right of access to information, according to a DirectInfo article (in French). The legislation has been generally praised by freedom of information activists, but they also have pointed out weaknesses. (See previous FreedomInfo.org reports.) No comments on the committee-approved […]
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4 June 2015
FOI Notes: Open Data, Right to be Forgotten, OGP, US, Slovakia, Australia, Germany, EU, Trade Transparency, Commentary, More
Open Data Charter: An effort to create an Open Data Charter is announced. The focus of this global consultation “will be the collaborative development of an International Open Data Charter consisting of a set of foundational principles for open data, as well as associated tools and guidelines to enable delivery.” The initiative was developed at […]
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3 June 2015
Other Issues Sidetrack RTI Legislation in Sri Lanka
The right to information bill in Sri Lanka has lost momentum, according to several persons following the legislation that the new government said would pass in the first 100 days. Political attention has turned to the 20th Amendment to the Constitution concerning the election system. The RTI bill “was presented and approved by the Cabinet […]
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3 June 2015
Sharma Picked to Head Indian Info Commission
India’s most senior incumbent information commissioner, Vijai Sharma, has been chosen to be the new Chief Information Commissioner, according to media reports. A formal announcement has not taken place, but Sharma’s apparent selection came at a meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi had June 1 with the leader of the largest opposition party in the Lok […]
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3 June 2015
Slipping Compliance Prompts Call for Georgia FOI Reform
The rate of response to freedom of information requests by the Georgian government has dipped recently, according to a new report that urges the government to follow through on a promise to pass a new FOI law. The description is contained in a chapter of a report,“Government: Georgian Dream’s Performance Review,” was presented on May […]
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3 June 2015
Political Will Exists to Pass FOI Legislation in Seychelles
The signs for approval of a freedom of information law in the Seychelles are positive, according to an article about a recent symposium on the topic that was attended by President James Michel. “Political will at the highest level” exists in support of a FOI law, according to Maxwell Kadiri from the Open Society Justice […]
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28 May 2015
Philippines House Cleared to Take Up on FOIA Legislation
A freedom of information bill may get debated in coming weeks in the Philippines House of Representatives. The legislation (House Bill No. 5801) recently was cleared on second reading by the Committee on Public Information, which first approved it late last year. Two committees that considered the bill have filed their reports. Congress is expected […]
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28 May 2015
Bapna Chosen to Be Future OGP Civil Society Chair
Manish Bapna of the World Resources Institute has been elected as next in line to be the chairperson representing civil society organizations on the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee. Bapna will assume that role in late 2017. He is Executive Vice President and Managing Director for the World Resources Institute. WRI recent issued its Environmental […]
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28 May 2015
New Florida Law Exempts Body Camera Footage
Florida Governor Rick Scott on May 21 signed into law a bill that would substantially exempt from disclosure footage taken with cameras worn by police officers. Florida thus becomes the second state to create special exemptions for body camera footage. North Dakota passed such a law in April. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) In Texas, a […]
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28 May 2015
Nepal RTI Activists Urge More Post-Earthquake Information
Right to information activists in Nepal have urged the government to provide more proactive disclosure and dissemination of information related to its efforts in the wake of devastating earthquake that struck the country. A memorandum (in Nepali language) containing 19 points was sent to National Information Commission by the Citizens’ Campaign for Right to Information […]
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28 May 2015
FOI Notes: Open Data and RTI, New Books, Australia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, US, Canada, EU, Pakistan
Open Data/RTI: “Right to Data = RTI + open formats+ reuse,” according to a blog post by Silvana Fumega, one of several speakers on a panel on open data and RTI at the International Open Data Conference being held in Toronto, Canada, May 28 and 29. Some of the sessions (but not this one it […]
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27 May 2015
Several African Nations Criticized at OGP Meeting
Tanzania and several other African countries were chastised on the subject of access to information at a recent regional meeting of Open Government Partnership held May 20-21 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, however, told the delegates that he plans to sign two controversial bills — on media regulation bill and freedom of information […]
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21 May 2015
US Officials Still Support Central FOIA Request Portal
The Obama administration is still committed to the goal of creating a consolidated portal from which citizens can make freedom of information requests, according to official statements made to FreedomInfo.org. The assurances come after the recent “soft launch” of OpenFOIA generated questions about how much progress was being made. The latest version of OpenFOIA provides […]
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21 May 2015
RTI and the Indian Official Secrets Act
By Venkatesh Nayak The author is Coordinator of the Access to Information Programme at the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. This post first appeared May 15 in The Hoot. Last week, upon being requested by a section of the family of the leader of the Indian movement for independence, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, to make the […]
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21 May 2015
What if we disclosed everything?
By Marcus Siqueira The author is an expert in public-private partnerships (PPPs) in Brazil, with a multidisciplinary background and more than 10 years of practical experience screening, preparing and managing PPP transactions. This post appeared in a World Bank blog. One day in 2012, when I was the head of a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Unit […]
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21 May 2015
Bahamian Government Offers Revised FOIA Legislation
The government of the Bahamas on May 19 proposed freedom of information legislation (text). Minister of Education Jerome Fitzgerald, the minister responsible for the legislation, was quoted as saying that the draft bill would dramatically improve upon the act that the former Ingraham Administration passed shortly before the May 2012 general election, that was never […]
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21 May 2015
FI Notes: OGP Grants, India, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Trade, Alaveteli, Australia, Portugal, UK, US, IMF
Funding: The OGP Access to Information Working Group announced its Access to Information Working Group Microgrant: Demonstrating ATI Linkages to OGP Progress Call for Applications. Applications are due no later than May 31, 2015. “The microgrants, in the amount of US$1,500 for research papers and US$3,000 for projects, are aimed at demonstrating the importance of access […]
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20 May 2015
Tunisian Parliament Works on Access to Information
A Tunisian parliamentary committee May 18 continued consideration of a bill on access to information that has been criticized by some media organizations. “The draft is good in general,” one transparency activist told FreedomInfo.org, “except some weaknesses especially regarding the regime of exceptions, sanctions and proactive disclosure.” The Commission of the Rights, Freedoms and External […]
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20 May 2015
Environmental Transparency Rated in Multi-Factor Index
An Environmental Democracy Index unveiled May 20 uses 75 indicators to evaluate 70 countries in three main areas: transparency, participation and access to justice. The index was created by the World Resources Institute and The Access Initiative “based on objective and internationally recognized standards established by the United Nations Environment Programme’s (UNEP) Bali Guidelines.” While […]
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18 May 2015
OGP Agrees Azerbaijan Harassing Civil Society
The Open Government Partnership has taken the first step in a process that could lead to Azerbaijan being declared an “inactive” member. An OGP subcommittee announced May 18 that it agrees with complaints from civil society organizations (CSOs) that the Azerbaijan government is restricting CSOs and acting in ways inconsistent with OGP principles. In the […]