What’s New
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26 October 2015
Confident OGP Setting Stage For Summit in Mexico City
By Toby McIntosh The Open Government Partnership will kick off its third summit with confidence. The 66-member multilateral institution will host an estimated 1,500 delegates from 94 countries in Mexico City Oct. 26-28. All manner of “open” causes will be on display at dozens of scheduled forums and the significance of the four-year-old experiment will […]
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26 October 2015
Two-Thirds of OGP Members Don’t Contribute Financially
By Toby McIntosh Two-thirds of the 66 members of the Open Government Partnership have never contributed financially, but the trend in the numbers is slowly improving. Only 22 governments have sent in checks over the past four years of the OGP”s existence, some providing way more than others. These are the 22 that have ponied […]
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22 October 2015
OGP Develops Strategies Dealing With Deviancy
Two years ago, when the Open Government was convening in London for its second summit in London, the hottest issue was the demand by leaders of civil society organizations for the OGP to deal with members not living up to open government principles. In particular, CSO activists wanted assurances that the OGP would respond when […]
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22 October 2015
Danish Ombudsman Wins Shorter Response Times
The Danish ombudsman has successfully pressured the government to reduce the response times for information requests from as high as 27 weeks to eight weeks. The development was reported by Jorgen Skadhede in a Journalisten (in Danish) and in a statement from the Ombudsman. “It is a cornerstone of the new offentlighedslov that cases of access […]
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22 October 2015
Bangladesh Researchers Report Encouraging Findings
“Significant progress is taking place and there is reason for optimism,” report Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz in an article in The Daily Star based on their examination of decisions by the Information Commission over the past one year. “Of course, we were also disappointed by many shortfalls that prevail,” they added, but they highlighted “positive developments.” […]
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22 October 2015
Liberian Commissioner Tells Agencies to Comply With Law
Liberia’s information commissioner has issued a directive to agencies telling them to comply with the 2010 freedom of information law or face administrative and legal action. An administrative circular issued by Commissioner Mark Bedor-Wla Freeman sets a deadline for institutions to appoint public information officers (PIOs). Many agencies also have not made reports to the […]
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22 October 2015
Senegal Forms Committee to Develop Access Legislation
Senegal’s Ministry of African Integration, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development and Promotion of Good Governance have established a steering committee for the development of a law on access to information. Chief of staff of that Ministry, Massamba Sene, is quoted as saying that the committee will have to work “quickly and well.” “The approach will […]
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22 October 2015
FOI Notes: Canada, India, South Africa, Scotland, Australia, Cyprus, US, Nigeria, Ghana, Ireland
Canada: A coalition of 22 NGOs says it has received promises from the NDP and Liberal parties to substantively improve the access to information system if elected, a pledge with weight following the Liberal victory in the elections. Newspapers Canada recently released its ninth annual National Freedom of Information Audit report, saying the law is “effectively […]
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22 October 2015
Parliament OKs Amendments to Bulgarian ATI Law
The Bulgarian National Assembly on Oct. 6 adopted at first reading amendments to the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) that emphasize the publication of more documents online. The amendments would expand the list of information to be published online and provide a timeline. The heads of public bodies would be tasked with reviewing proactive […]
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22 October 2015
OGP Leaders to Review Progress, Discuss Next Moves
Discussion of progress to date and several new initiatives is on agenda for two meetings of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee to be held Oct. 26-27 in Mexico City in advance of the third OGP summit Oct. 28-29. One proposal expected to advance will be a pilot project to involve subnational governments. Top ministers […]
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22 October 2015
Article 19: The Right to Information in Thailand
The following article was part of a report on the right to information in Asia published by Article 19. Reprinted with permission. The turbulent history of Thailand is reflected in the number of constitutions the country has adopted since the overthrow of the monarchy in 1932.[i] The right to information was first recognised by the […]
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21 October 2015
Indian PM Modi Pledges Timely, Trouble-Free RTI
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi Oct. 16 said the right to information process should follow a “3-T” mantra of being timely, transparent and trouble-free. Speaking at the 10th annual Convention of Central Information Commission, Modi supported providing more information “proactively.” Modi said democracy will be strengthened the faster “we move towards transparency,” the stronger will be […]
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19 October 2015
UN Body Advances Proposal For International ATI Day
The Executive Board of UNESCO Oct. 19 adopted a resolution recommending that Sept. 28 be recognized as International Access to Information Day. The resolution next heads to the 38th Session of UNESCO’s General Conference, which will take place in Paris from Nov. 3 – 18. UNESCO is the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. […]
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15 October 2015
Mozambique Cabinet Issues Regulation on FOI Law
The Mozambican Council of Ministers Oct. 13 approved regulations concerning the law on freedom of information, signed into law in December, 2014. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Government spokesperson Deputy Health Minister Mouzinho Saide said that the law and its regulations apply to all state bodies, to municipalities and to those private bodies which, under law […]
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15 October 2015
Controversies Cloud India’s RTI Act 10 Year Anniversary
Last week he said he couldn’t make it, but this week Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would attend a national conference commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 2005 Right to Information Act. And that (see NDTV report) wasn’t the only controversy surrounding the annual RTI conference sponsored by the Central Information Commission. Some RTI activists are boycotting […]
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15 October 2015
Armenia Sets Regulation About Electronic Requests
Armenia has approved regulations that will electronic requests for information. “The civil society was waiting for this Act more than 12 years since adoption of the FOI Law in 2003,” according to Shushan Doydoyan, director of the Freedom of Information Center of Armenia, who has just been selected as the head of the newly established Personal Data […]
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15 October 2015
Ireland Orders Creation of Proactive Disclosure Plans
The new Irish Freedom of Information Act came into force Oct. 14 and the government has told agencies they have six months to create their plans for proactive disclosure of information. The government issued an implementation order, which also covers a new fee structure. “A key innovation,” the government said, “requires public bodies to pre-empt the need […]
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15 October 2015
FOI Notes: Germany, Trade, Namibia, Nigeria, OGP, Zimbabwe, Brazil, US, Commentary
Germany: The Conference of Commissioners for Freedom of Information (Konferenz der Informationsfreiheitsbeauftragten – IFK) has commented on a plan by the Baden-Württemberg government to adopt a FOI act, and said the draft act falls short of the freedom of information standards established in Germany, according to a by lawyers from Squire Patton Boggs. The Conference […]
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14 October 2015
Ghana President Undercuts Value of FOI Legislation
Ghana’s President John Dramani Mahama has cast doubt on the value of a freedom of information law, while still indicating he thinks it will be passed. The president’s remarks came in an Oct. 7 DW television interview with Tim Sebastian and caused the Coalition on the Right to Information Coalition in an Oct. 13 statement […]
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14 October 2015
UK Commission Poses Six Questions, Seeks Comment
A British government commission has called for “evidence” regarding potential changes to the Freedom of Information Act. With six questions, the five-member commission has confirmed two major areas of interest: — how to protect the internal deliberations of public bodies and — the cost of handling FOI requests. The announcement summarizes the issues, including a […]