News
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13 April 2012
Is Europe’s Top Court Finally Embracing Right to Know?
By Darian Pavli Pavil is Senior Attorney, Open Society Justice Initiative On April 3, the top body of the European Court of Human Rights upheld the right of two social science researchers to access research data held by a public university. This is the first time that the Grand Chamber of the court, its top […]
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13 April 2012
Botswana Ruling Party Postpones Work on FOI
By Toby McIntosh The ruling Botswana Democratic Party has postponed parliamentary consideration of a freedom of information bill, a move fueled by a secret and hyperbolic document from the office of the president. The 11-page document, made available to FreedomInfo.org, attacks the bill in multiple ways that FOI supporters say misrepresent the bill (text of bill). Circulated […]
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13 April 2012
FOI NOTES: MENA, Canada, Open Data, US, UK
MENA: A new newsletter has been started to follow access to information developments in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Said Almadhoun, now a human rights officer at the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and an adjunct professor of law at the University of Palestine, writes about “the […]
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12 April 2012
Sweden Decides Against Changing Press Act
By Staffan Dahllöf This article first appeared on Wobbing Europe. The world’s oldest access law will remain Swedish parliamentarians have unanimously agreed not to propose a recast of the Swedish Freedom of the Press Act, the first law in the world to grant citizens access to public information. Backed by an overwhelming public opinion politicians […]
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10 April 2012
OGP Steering Committee Agenda Features Governance
By Toby McIntosh The adoption of “Articles of Governance” is a major topic on the agenda of the Open Government Partnership Steering Committee meeting April 16 in Brasilia, Brazil, according to the agenda released April 10. As the agenda was announced, a key State Department official working on OGP said in a Twitter post that […]
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9 April 2012
Hungarian Groups Criticize Government Proposals
Hungarian groups are criticizing draft legislation they say would undermine access to information by setting charges for the reuse of public information. A bill of submitted to the Hungarian Parliament by the government of the country “makes national FOI legislation highly unpredictable,” according to a statement by HCLU and K-Monitor, major Hungarian NGOs working for […]
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9 April 2012
FOI Notes: Egypt, West Africa, Australia
Egypt: A report by Angella Migally for the Egyptian American Rule of Law Association focuses on freedom of information laws “from a uniquely Egyptian perspective.” The report describes international best practices “in an attempt to provide a resource to those working on rule of law reform and specifically freedom of information laws in Egypt. West Africa: Article […]
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9 April 2012
Discussion Active in Tunisia on Protecting Access Rights
Efforts are under way to ensure that Tunisia’s new constitution will protect access to information. An “Open Government and Access to Information” event was held in late March, sponsored by the Tunisian government, the World Bank and the European Commission, according to a World Bank press release. Representatives from regional governments, international experts, government officials […]
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6 April 2012
OGP Prepares for Brazil Conference; Serbia Joins
About 440 persons are expected to attend the Open Government Partnership conference in Brazil April 17-18. Only a few national action plans have emerged in advance of the meeting, but more than 40 will be unveiled during the two days of meetings in Brasilia. For the agenda, plus a list of side events and participants, […]
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6 April 2012
Sierra Leone FOI Advocates Urge Parliament to Act
Advocates of a freedom of information bill in Sierra Leone are pressing the government to take action on the long-stalled FOI bill, and looking for a procedural move that could ease passage. Activists continue to hope that the government will act to arrange the process so that the bill will not go back to square one in Parliament. The […]
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6 April 2012
FOI Notes: Constitutions, Research, Photos, More
Constitutions: The Centre for Law and Democracy has published a comparative report on international and comparative constitutional guarantees of the right to information. The report, “Entrenching RTI: An Analysis of Constitutional Protections of the Right to Information,” is part of CLD’s ongoing work to support right to information reform in Egypt. Social Media/FOI: An Australia […]
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2 April 2012
Australian Commissioner Proposes New FOI Fees
Australian Information Commissioner John McMillan has proposed a new fee system for the FOI law, including a $50 application fee if a requester does not first try to access the documents through informal means. McMillan says such a charge would apply if a requester doesn’t first attempt to utilize defined “administrative access schemes” at agencies. The […]
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2 April 2012
Reports Show Uses of Access Laws for LGBTI Community
The South African History Archive has prepared reports to raise awareness about the right to information within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) sector in Africa. The materials not only describe the laws, but contain specific practical suggestions on how requests can be used to gather useful information and defend rights in a […]
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27 March 2012
Spain Proposes FOI Law; NGO Identifies Faults
Spain’s proposed freedom of information law is drawing critical reviews. Spain’s Cabinet on March 23 agreed to propose a freedom of information law and on March 26 proposed a text (in Spanish) for an unusual 15-day consultation period. “It is a law whose main goal is improve the credibility of and trust in our institutions, […]
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19 March 2012
Spending on Media Legal Environments Examined
Spending by four major U.S. funders to create a more enabling legal environment for the media worldwide is declining in proportion to overall spending on media training, according to a forthcoming report by the Center for International Media Assistance. The findings were previewed by CIMA’s Senior Director Marguerite Sullivan on March 16 at a National Freedom […]
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19 March 2012
Malaysian Government Won’t Pursue FOI Legislation
The Malaysian government has no plans to propose freedom of information legislation because this is already provided for in the Constitution, according to the minister for Information, Communications and Culture, Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim. His ministry is focusing on improved information dissemination efforts to get information to the people rather than introducing a new […]
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19 March 2012
Despite Uncertainty, Sierra Leone FOI Activists Organize
With conflicting signals coming from top government officials, advocates for a freedom of information in Sierra Leone are coalescing to lobby for FOI legislation. The activity comes as a top minister pledged action on a bill, according to a media report by Michael T. Kamara and Mariama Bundu in Awareness Times. But the Speaker of the […]
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19 March 2012
U.S. Sunshine Week Brings Reports, Hearings, Meetings
Sunshine Week in the United States is the time when many organizations announce studies on various facets of access to information, Congress holds hearings on the FOIA, conferences are held and editorials are written. Debate continued this year on the adequacy of the Obama administration’s record on transparency. Lauren Harper of the National Security Archive […]
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19 March 2012
RTI Laws Rank Below Model Standards, Study Says
“Right to information laws in Africa and the Americas are falling below the standards set by regional human rights bodies, while in Europe the standards themselves are weaker than the better right to information laws, according to a new analysis by Access Info Europe (Spain) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (Canada). Using their […]
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19 March 2012
FOI Notes: Photography, Research, Open Data, More
Photography: The Freedom of Information Center of Armenia has announced plans for a photography exhibition to open May 3, International Press Freedom Day, in Yerevan, Armenia, devoted to freedom of information and the freedom of expression. “We are in the process of collecting photos and/or caricatures from around the world that are related to Right to Know and […]