News
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10 August 2011
Indian Supreme Court Orders Disclosure of Reviewed Tests
The Indian Supreme Court Aug. 8 said students had the right to access their evaluated answer sheets under the Right to Information Act. In its decision, the court upheld a 2009 Calcutta high court that the materials are not exempt from the transaprency law and must disclose the reviewed tests. The case developed after a […]
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8 August 2011
New Draft of Model FOI Principles for Africa Proposed
A new draft of a proposed freedom of information “platform” for Africa has been released in preparation for a September conference at which final consideration will take place. The African Platform on Access to Information Working Group finalized the second draft of its declaration, according to an announcement on the newly launched Pan-African Conference on Access to […]
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8 August 2011
OGP Invites Participation in New Networking Mechanism
The Open Government Partnership has invited governments, civil society, private firms and others with expertise in open in government to participate in a “Networking Mechanism.” The Open Government Partnership is “a new multilateral initiative that aims to secure concrete commitments from governments to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen […]
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5 August 2011
UK Seeks Public Comments on Open Data Policy
The British government Aug. 4 launched an open data consultation paper titled “Making Open Data Real – A Public Consultation.” The paper sets out “proposals for embedding a culture of openness and transparency in public services.” The stated goal is to explore “how we might create the `pull’ (a right to data) and the `push’ (a […]
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5 August 2011
Words From Mali Minister Encourage FOI Activists
Mali’s minister of communication has committed to support an action plan to promote the right to information in the country, according to a press release from the Africa Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) and the Mali Association of Human Rights (AMDH). The groups welcomed the development, which was made at a July 29 workshop they […]
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4 August 2011
China Restates Openness Policy in New Guidance
The Chinese government Aug. 2 urged government officials to be more open, a development greeted both with hope and cynicism. The new statement does not create any new legal requirements for transparency but was viewed by some as a significant restatement in support of proactive openness. Others were less sanguine and noted the policy’s appearance […]
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4 August 2011
OGP Releases List of 79 Countries Eligible to Join
The Open Government Partnership has published the names of the 79 countries eligible to join, and their qualifying scores. The list is now available on the OGP website under the “More Documents” heading. The site also includes an explanation of the criteria and the scoring. The spreadsheet does not include the scoring for the countries […]
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3 August 2011
Website Set for Confab of Information Commissioners
The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada has announced a website to take registrations for the 7th International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC 2011) in Ottawa, Canada, on Oct. 4 and 5. The official web page can be found here: http://www.oic-ci.gc.ca/eng/icic-cici.aspx The Registration button will then take you to a page of the Canadian […]
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1 August 2011
FreedomInfo.org Publishes List of Blogs With FOI News
FreedomInfo.org has posted a list of 97 websites containing news about FOI developments, nationally and internationally. To qualify for this list, the blog or website needs to be pretty active and significantly focused on the subject of access to information whether it is called freedom of information (FOI), right to know (RTK), right to information […]
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1 August 2011
Ghana Lawmakers Begin Consultations on RTI Bill
Members of the Ghana parliament have begun regional consultations on a proposed right to information bill, with proponents of the bill complaining that the sessions were poorly publicized, and criticizing the bill. The Coalition on the Right to Information-Ghana commended the Joint Committee on Legal, Constitutional, and Parliamentary Affairs and Communication for commencing the consultations, […]
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29 July 2011
Spanish Cabinet Approves Access Legislation
The Spanish Cabinet July 29 has approved and issued a long-awaited draft of an access to information law. News of the proposed law from the Council of Ministers was announced by the nongovernmental organization Access Info Europe, which received a letter from the Minister of the Presidency, Ramon Jauregui. An early draft of the legislation […]
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29 July 2011
Colombia: ATI Movement Rolls Out Draft FOI Bill
By Michael Evans Director, Colombia Documentation Project, National Security Archive For more than two years, a coalition of transparency advocates in Colombia has been developing draft language for what might someday become the country’s first right to information law. The full text of the proposed access law, along with a detailed statement of purpose from […]
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29 July 2011
UN Committee Completes Guidance on Article 19
The United Nations Human Rights Committee has issued new guidance on the interpretation of Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees freedoms of opinion and expression. Two sections address the right to information. The much-expanded guidance was praised by several international experts. The committee conducted several years of consultations and […]
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29 July 2011
South African Panel Renews Deliberations on Secrecy Bill
Consideration of the controversial Protection of Information Bill (POIB) by a committee of the South African Parliament resumed this week with debate focused on a new definition of national security. The multi-day deliberations this week included an indication that the ruling African National Congress party will “at least consider proposals for extending protection to those […]
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29 July 2011
Indian Activists Object to Exclusion on PPP Projects
Indian right to information activists are expressing dissatisfaction with an internal government legal opinion that would exempt Public Private Partnership Projects (PPPs) from the right to information law. The Central Information Commission has decided to seek Prime Minister’s Manmohan Singh’s intervention,according to The Hindustani Times, which broke the story. “We will be writing to the […]
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29 July 2011
Chinese Agencies Disclose Spending on Travel
Chinese government departments have largely complied with a requirement to disclose how much was spent on overseas trips, receptions and vehicles in 2010, according to reports in the Chinese state and commercial media. Despite a deadline of June 30 to comply with a Cabinet order, by July 7 only three out of the 98 central […]
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25 July 2011
President Aquino Does Not Mention FOI in State of Union
Philippine President Benigno Aquino did not mention freedom of information in his July 25 State of the Union address, but several days later said his proosal was almost ready. In a speech July 28, however, Aquino said he had ordered the drafting of a “balanced” freedom of information bill and suggested it would be ready […]
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22 July 2011
Groups Urge More Access to Environmental Information
The decision-making processes concerning the environment are too opaque and governments should commit to transparency steps when they meet next year for Earth Summit 2012, according to a joint report by Article 19 and The Access Initiative. Titled Moving from Principles to Rights, the report says “people in over half the countries around the world […]
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22 July 2011
Aquino Position on FOI Remains in Doubt
Philippine President Benigno Aquino still has not indicated whether he will support a freedom of information bill developed by a working group of his ministers, according to sources consulted by FreedomInfo.org and media reports. Aquino “will likely not mention the Freedom of Information (FOI) bill in his second State of the Nation Address on July […]
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22 July 2011
Alliance Backs Case on Transparency in Ecuador
The Regional Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information (Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información) has submitted an amicus curiae brief to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Costa Rica that seeks to establish standards for dissemination of information. The case, “Pueblo Indígena Kichwa de Sarayaku vs. Ecuador,” is being conducted by […]