News
-
6 May 2011
FOI Notes: Research Motherload, and More
Research: More than five dozen papers have just been posted that will be presented at the 1st Global Conference on Transparency Research, to be held May 19-20 at Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey. Titles include: Bertoni, Eduardo: Freedom of Information. Three harmless words? The role of the media and access to information laws Fumega, Silvana […]
-
6 May 2011
Ghana Minister Says President Will Sign RTI Bill
Ghana’s Deputy Information Minister, Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, May 3 said that President John Atta Mill’s administration is committed to the passage of the stalled right to information bill, but that the bill is in the hands of parliament now. “Once that is done, I assure you, President Mills will not hesitate to grant it assent,” […]
-
6 May 2011
Release of Bin Laden Photo Debatable Under US FOIA
By Nate Jones FOIA Coordinator for the National Security Archive. Originally published in NSA’s Unredacted blog. With the news that President Obama has decided not to release photos of Osama bin Laden’s corpse, twitter has been aflutter asking if the documents can be released under FOIA. Gawker has a pretty good piece quoting Daniel Metcalfe, […]
-
6 May 2011
Press Group Urges Action on RTI Bill in Mozambique
The Mozambican chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) May 3 “condemned the Mozambican parliament, the Assembly of the Republic, for its failure to schedule for debate the draft Right to Information Bill which was submitted to parliament six years ago.” In a press release issued on World Press Freedom Day, MISA-Mozambique said […]
-
6 May 2011
Irish Commissioner Suggests Expansion of FOI Law
Irish Information Commissioner Emily O’Reilly May 3 issued her Annual Report for 2010, recommending that the scope of the law be expanded to cover more public bodies, including the administrative side of An Garda Síochána [the Irish government police force] and the biggest state-controlled financial institutions. She also objected to recent cutbacks on the coverage […]
-
5 May 2011
Impeached Ex-President Pockets Brazilian FOI Bill
By Greg Michener Michener is a Rio de Janeiro-based political scientist currently writing a book for Cambridge University Press on freedom of information in Latin America. E-mail is . His blog is http://observingbrazil.com A surprising turn of events threatens to derail President Dilma Rousseff’s bid for greater governmental openness and transparency in Brazil. Brazil was on […]
-
5 May 2011
Jersey Passes FOI Law, Sets 2015 Implementation Date
By Toby McIntosh The Jersey States Assembly on May 4 approved a freedom of information law, but decided it will not go into force until the end of 2015. Passage of the bill was nearly unanimous, but a separate action on implementation hinted at underlying tension with government officials. The States Assembly also approved a proposition asking […]
-
4 May 2011
Sierra Leone President Promises FOI Law Soon
Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma on May 3 promised that a freedom of information bill will become law “pretty, pretty soon,” according to a Awoko media report. His pledge came as 50 journalists organized by the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) marched to the State House on International Press Freedom Day urging repeal […]
-
4 May 2011
Aquino to Advance FOI Bill Proposal, Aide Says
The chances of a freedom of information in the Philippines improved this week as aides to President Benigno Aquino said that a FOI bill will be presented to the House of Representatives. The Palace bill has not yet been made public, but even the prospect of a written proposal is considered positive news after Aquino […]
-
2 May 2011
Icons Signal Expanded Australian Disclosures
Beginning May 1, Australian government agencies must publish a “disclosure log” listing information that has been released in response to freedom of information access requests. The logs, signaled by a uniform icon, must be updated within 10 working days of giving the FOI applicant access to the information. This disclosure is one piece of a larger […]
-
2 May 2011
Philippines Journalism Center Sees Mixed Access Picture
There are a few signs of more transparency since President Benigno Aquino came to power nearly a year ago, but in most parts of the government “a predilection for opaqueness lingers and more barriers to access have been imposed,” according to a new report by the Philippines Center for Investigative Journalism. “Indeed, because Mr. Aquino’s […]
-
2 May 2011
Indonesian Commissioner Cites Limited Authority
The Indonesian Central Information Commission (KIP) received 224 requests from citizens and corporations to settlement of information disputes between July 2010 and March 2011, according to an article in the Jakarta Post. The commission provided information in 22 disputes through mediation. “Seven cases went through adjudication, but in only three of them were documents eventually […]
-
2 May 2011
OAS Reports Examines FOI, Human Rights Violations
The Organization of American States Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression, Catalina Botero, has released an annual report that includes a section on the right to access to information regarding human rights violations. The 341-page report also discusses “best practices of national courts with regard to access to information in the Americas, and the principles […]
-
29 April 2011
Changes in Hungary Seen Undercutting FOI Rights
Hungary has replaced the independent Data Protection and Freedom of Information Commissioner with an administrative authority, seriously weakening the right to access information, according to Human rights and media freedom groups. The changes result the new Hungarian constitution, recently signed by Hungary’s president Pál Schmitt. “There is still a lack of clarity about the proposed […]
-
29 April 2011
Ghana Parliament Delays Holding Meetings on RTI Bill
By Toby McIntosh Key leaders of the Ghana parliament are continuing to postpone holding consultations on a pending right to information bill. Since at least late last year, the parliamentarians have said they want to conduct hearings around the country on the bill, which was referred to committee back in September. But no hearings have […]
-
28 April 2011
Discussions Held in Botswana on Draft FOI Legislation
Advocates are organizing in support of a proposed freedom of information law for Botswana, according to media reports. The Media Institute of Southern Africa – Botswana held a stakeholders discussion on the bill April 21 in Gaborone and a task force on the bill has been organized, according to a report in the Botswana Gazette. […]
-
22 April 2011
Brazil Agrees to Co-Chair International FOI Effort
Brazil has agreed to be the co-chair with the United States of an international effort to encourage freedom of information, a plan that has been in the making since it was broached last fall by President Obama. No official announcement has been made of the co-chairmanship of what is being called the Open Government Partnership […]
-
22 April 2011
SA Committee Recesses After Debate on Scope of POIB
The South African parliamentary committee debated whether the proposed protection of information bill should cover the police and the military before recessing until after the May 18 municipal elections, according to reports on the meeting. “Opposition parties disagreed on whether the bill should apply to police and defence, whose powers to classify information derive from […]
-
22 April 2011
FOI Notes: Libraries, Research, Open Data
Research: U.S. academic and blogger Michael Zimmer draws attention in a post to a recent paper by University of Arizona journalism professor David Cuillier advocating a more active role for libraries in gathering and disseminating public information. To create “freedom of information gazebos,” Cuillier suggests that libraries start filing freedom of information requests and litigating […]
-
22 April 2011
Cayman Commissioner Makes Suggestions for FOI Law
The Cayman Island information commissioner has made recommendations to revise the 2007 freedom of information law for a Legislative Assembly subcommittee tasked with conducting a review. The most recent submission by commissioner Jennifer Dilbert concerns fees and requests submitted using a pseudonym, according to press release from her office. Last September, she made recommendations on […]