News
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6 July 2011
Obama Transparency Effort Seeks National Commitments
By Toby McIntosh The United States will host a multinational meeting July 12 at which representatives from more than 50 countries will discuss ways to bring more openness to their nations. Sixteen categories of transparency will be put on the table, according to pre-meeting materials obtained by FreedomInfo.org. The eventual goal is for individual countries to pledge […]
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5 July 2011
New Moroccan Constitution Includes Access Article
The new Moroccan constitution, passed with a 98 percent affirmative vote and 72 percent participation on July 1, includes a provision on access to information. New legislative elections are to be held in three or four months and transparency activists hope to see an access law on the books by the end of 2012. “We […]
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1 July 2011
FOI Proposals in Hungary Would Weaken Law
A bill before the Hungarian Parliament would replace the independent Data Protection and Freedom of Information Commissioner with a less independent administrative authority. “This change will seriously weaken the right to access to information in Hungary,” according to Hutti Tivadar, Head of Data Protection and Freedom of Information Program, Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. The legislation which was […]
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1 July 2011
Slovakian Groups Criticize Ideas to Alter Access Law
The Slovak association Via Iuris and Transparency International Slovakia have warned that proposed revisions to the law on access to information would “mean a major setback and a significant weakening of the rights of citizens and journalists for information,” in the words of Via Iuris. Draft amendments undergoing interdepartmental review, the groups explained in June 28 press […]
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1 July 2011
Conferees Discuss FOIA Reforms in Dominican Republic
By Natalia Torres, CELE´s Senior Researcher Articles on freedom of information in Latin America, written by the Center for Studies on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information (CELE) in Argentina, will be a regular feature in FreedomInfo.org. See this article Spanish. On June 9 and 10, the International Seminar “Inter-American Model Law on Access to […]
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1 July 2011
Ley modelo y legislación local en Dominicana
By Natalia Torres, Investigadora Principal del CELE. El pasado 9 y 10 de junio se realizó en Santo Domingo el Seminario Internacional “Ley Modelo Interamericana sobre Acceso a la Información y su aplicación en República Dominicana”. El seminario, organizado por la Secretari?a para Asuntos Juri?dicos de la Organización de Estados Americanos, el Banco Mundial, la […]
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1 July 2011
Participants in Indonesian Training to Submit Requests
Some 40 participants in a recent training session in Indonesia have agreed to each submit 10 requests under the Indonesian FOI law. The participants come from different civil society groups and will have support from the Centre for Law and Democracy, based in Halifax, Canada, and the Indonesian Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI). The commitment […]
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1 July 2011
Uganda Access Regulations Problematical, WRI Says
The new regulations to implement the Uganda Access to Information Act of 2005 contain “burdensome provisions that make access unnecessarily costly and difficult,” according to a new analysis. The assessment comes from the World Resources Institute in a report entitled “Access to Information Regulations: Another Bump in the Road to Transparency,” by Gaia Larsen, Carole […]
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30 June 2011
Sierra Leone Minister Says Parliament Needs Persuading
A Sierra Leone minister has said efforts are under way to convince Parliament to pass a freedom of information law. Deputy Information Minister Sheka Tarawalli said in a recent interview with Cocorioko News, “We have been lobbying MPs and embarking on sensitization campaigns as to the necessity of the Act, and it is our hope […]
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29 June 2011
Amending Access to Information Legislation
By Toby Mendel Toby Mendel is Executive Director of Centre for Law in Democracy The following is the concluding chapter (minus footnotes) of a recent report entitled Amending Access to Information Legislation: Legal and Political Issues. It is the seventh paper on access to information in the Governance Working Paper series published by the World […]
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27 June 2011
FOI Notes: South Asia, United States, OECD Report
South Asia: A new book, “Transparent Governance in South Asia,” published by the Indian Institute of Public Administration, provides detailed historical articles on the right to access movements in the region. The chapters cover: – Evolution of RTI Act 2009 in Bangladesh, – RTI Law Implementation in Bangladesh – RTI in Bhutan: A Background Note […]
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27 June 2011
EU Parliament Bows to Court Ruling on Access to Report
The European Parliament June 22 decided to surrender a report on the abuse of payments made to members of parliament. The so-called Galvin report was the subject of a court case recently decided in favor of the Irish lawyer who requested the document. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) At the time of the ruling it was not […]
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27 June 2011
Right2Know Welcomes ANC Concessions on POIB
The Right2Know campaign has welcomed “concessions” from the African National Congress on the Protection of Information bill. One key change would narrow the scope of the bill to apply only to security and intelligence services. Other organs of state could apply for inclusion. Another modification would allow a retired judge to review disputed classification of […]
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24 June 2011
Sri Lankan Government Pledges to Present RTI Bill
The Sri Lankan parliament has defeated an opposition proposal for a freedom of information, but the government has promise once again to make its own proposal, according to a report in The Daily Mirror. The bill offered by United National Party Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya was defeated in a vote with 97 members against it and […]
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24 June 2011
Mexican FOI Amendment Stalled According to Activists
Proposed amendments toMexico’s freedom of information law are “stuck,” according to activists, who believe that no legislative action is likely this year because of the 2012 elections . Congress has gone in the recess until September, after opposition from several key legislators and the Treasury ministry stalled progress on the bill, sources said. The bill […]
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24 June 2011
Spanish Official Promises Access to Information Bill
The Spanish government indicated June 21 that it will present an access to information bill. The announcement followed passage by the House of Representatives calling for such a law, a cause that transparency activists have pressed hard this year. A top government official in March pledged to produce a bill in a month, but did not meet […]
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24 June 2011
Report Analyzes Access in 7 Latin American Countries
An extensive new report examines access to information policies and practices in seven Latin American countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru and Uruguay. The report is titled “?Venciendo la Cultura del Secreto. Obstáculos a la implementación de políticas y normas de acceso a la información en la región?” (“Overcoming the culture of secrecy. Obstacles […]
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24 June 2011
Luxembourg Urged to Revive Effort to Pass FOI Law
Access Info Europe June 20 chided Luxembourg for not passing a freedom of information law 11 years after one was first proposed. The group wrote to Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker and to Alex Bodry of the Chamber of Deputies, the original promoter of the law and current rapporteur in charge of this file, asking what […]
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24 June 2011
South Africa Sets New Deadline for Secrecy Bill
The South African National Assembly has extended until Sept. 23 the deadline for approval of the controversial Protection of Information. The action, as reported in News24, came after an ad hoc committee working on the bill missed its June 24 deadline. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) The Right2Know campaign welcomed the action, commenting, “It is clear […]
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20 June 2011
Right of Access Proposed for New Morocco Constitution
Moroccans will vote July 1 on a proposed constitution that includes a provision proclaiming access to information a right. “If the yes vote wins, the constitutional right of access information will open the door to a new law,” according to Said Essoulami, director of the Center for Media Freedom in the Middle East and North […]