This document provides comments on a draft Freedom of Information law in the Philippines. It summarizes key issues and recommendations for improving the draft. Key points include expanding the scope of information covered beyond matters of public concern; strengthening exceptions; including an oversight body; and imposing a duty on public bodies to proactively publish certain information without requiring a request.
Recently, the judgment of the Delhi High Court granted the bail to three activists, who have been in jail for over a year without trial, for their alleged role in the 2020 Delhi riots.
The judgment assumes significance because the charges were under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967. UAPA is criticized by the civil society as antithetical to constitutional freedom to dissent, rule of law and fair trial.
The Delhi high court judgement is a step in the right direction, but there are many issues associated with the UAPA.
Detailed Analysis of Artcile 13 with relevant case laws and study of pre and post constitutional laws with reference to Doctrine of Eclipse and Severability. Doctrine of Waiver. Amenability of the Fundamental Rights.
The New Zealand Government is proposing radical law reforms in respect of communally Indigenous Maori-owned lands. History has shown how similar reforms have disengaged whole Maori communities from their roots, origins and traditions where today Maori collectively own a fraction (five percent) of what we used. The East-coast of the North Island remains one of the few strongholds in the country where there remains very high collective Maori community ownership. Should the changes proposed by the government go wrong, this will have a disproportionate, far reaching, potentially disastrous impact and do irreparable harm to the traditions and culture of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. Not One More Acre!
The slides relate to Part - III of the Indian Constitution i.e. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS. It elaborates on the violation of fundamental rights under the constitution. Useful for Law students and Professionals.
Recently, the judgment of the Delhi High Court granted the bail to three activists, who have been in jail for over a year without trial, for their alleged role in the 2020 Delhi riots.
The judgment assumes significance because the charges were under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), 1967. UAPA is criticized by the civil society as antithetical to constitutional freedom to dissent, rule of law and fair trial.
The Delhi high court judgement is a step in the right direction, but there are many issues associated with the UAPA.
Detailed Analysis of Artcile 13 with relevant case laws and study of pre and post constitutional laws with reference to Doctrine of Eclipse and Severability. Doctrine of Waiver. Amenability of the Fundamental Rights.
The New Zealand Government is proposing radical law reforms in respect of communally Indigenous Maori-owned lands. History has shown how similar reforms have disengaged whole Maori communities from their roots, origins and traditions where today Maori collectively own a fraction (five percent) of what we used. The East-coast of the North Island remains one of the few strongholds in the country where there remains very high collective Maori community ownership. Should the changes proposed by the government go wrong, this will have a disproportionate, far reaching, potentially disastrous impact and do irreparable harm to the traditions and culture of the indigenous Maori people of New Zealand. Not One More Acre!
The slides relate to Part - III of the Indian Constitution i.e. FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS. It elaborates on the violation of fundamental rights under the constitution. Useful for Law students and Professionals.
lecture presented by Fe Angela M. Verzosa at the Seminar-workshop on Archives and Records Management for Open Government sponsored by the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) in partnership with the International Council of Museums-Philippines (ICOM-Philippines), De La Salle University-Manila University Library, and the Philippine Association of Museums (PAMI) held on 22 May 2012 at the Commission on Human Rights, UP Diliman, Quezon City
Background TLG has explained to the GC owners that it is vital to u.docxwilcockiris
Background: TLG has explained to the GC owners that it is vital to understand the legal system and processes, including the court system and jurisdiction of the courts. This is especially important as GC plans to conduct business over the internet and thus, will have potential transactions throughout the U.S. and, possibly, globally.
For the initial meeting between GC owners and TLG, Winnie and Ralph asked you to present an overview of the law and the legal system. Your presentation explained federalism, the court system, and common law v. civil law, and explained the nature of law and the legal process.
Review all assigned materials listed in Overview.
Some of the points included in your presentation are:
(1) the primary purpose of the law is to establish a set of rules and guidelines for society to promote order and to create parameters for acceptable and prohibited behavior;
(2) laws are inevitably subject to interpretation and reinterpretation by courts;
(3) laws must be reasonably specific, and yet sufficiently general, with inherent flexibility, to withstand the rigors of interpretation and the "test of time";
(4) laws that strike a balance as described in (3) above, usually endure as relevant, applicable rules, even with societal changes and reinterpretations;
• example: the U.S. Constitution has withstood the test of time, partly because of an inherent balance of specificity, generality, and flexibility
(5) laws are promulgated and interpreted by human beings, and thus, are imperfect;
(6) some laws have a worthy purpose, but are difficult to adequately enforce i.e. speed limit laws;
(7) all laws are not necessarily ethical; some conduct can be legal, but considered unethical;
(8) U.S. law has a very dominant protective purpose – protecting all citizens, as well as providing special protections for certain groups of people, in certain circumstances, i.e., minors;
(9) fairness to all is a primary goal of the law, but what is fair to one group may be unfair to another group; what is fair in one situation may be unfair in another situation - every right granted to an individual or group, to some extent, impinges on the rights of another individual or group;
(10) legislatures enacting laws, and courts interpreting laws, must weigh and balance the right(s) granted v. the rights restricted by a specific law to determine if the law is justifiable and fair - this weighing and balancing involves determining if there a compelling public interest or purpose for the law that justifies granting certain rights while restricting other rights;
• example: highway speed limit laws protect everyone (drivers, passengers, and pedestrians), but also restrict the freedom of drivers to drive at a speed of their choice - on balance, the restriction is easily justified as there is an important purpose in protecting drivers, passengers, and pedestrians
• example: laws that prohibit alcohol consumption/purchase by minors grant rig.
Background TLG has explained to the GC owners that it is vital to ucameroncourtney45
Background: TLG has explained to the GC owners that it is vital to understand the legal system and processes, including the court system and jurisdiction of the courts. This is especially important as GC plans to conduct business over the internet and thus, will have potential transactions throughout the U.S. and, possibly, globally.
For an in initial meeting between GC owners and TLG, Winnie and Ralph asked you to present an overview of the law and the legal system. You explained federalism, common law, and the court system.
In addition, your presentation discussed the nature of law and the legal process. Some of the points included in your presentation are:
(1) the primary purpose of law is to establish a set of rules and guidelines for Society to promote order and to create parameters for acceptable and prohibited behavior;
(2) laws are inevitably subject to interpretation and reinterpretation by courts;
(3) laws must be reasonably specific, and yet sufficiently general, with an inherent flexibility, to withstand the rigors of interpretation and the "test of time";
(4) laws that strike a balance as described in (3) above, usually endure as relevant, applicable rules, even with societal changes and reinterpretations;
• example: arguably, the U.S. Constitution has withstood the test of time, partly because of an inherent balance of specificity, generality, and flexibility
(5) laws are promulgated and interpreted by human beings, and thus, are imperfect;
(6) some laws have a worthy purpose, but are difficult to adequately enforce, i.e., speed limit laws;
(7) all laws are not necessarily ethical; some conduct can be legal, but considered unethical;
(8) U.S. law has a very dominant protective purpose – protecting all citizens, as well as providing special protections for certain groups of people, in certain circumstances, i.e., minors;
(9) fairness to all is a primary goal of law, but what is fair to one group may be unfair to another group; what is fair in one situation may be unfair in another situation - every right granted to an individual or group, to some extent, impinges on the rights of another individual or group;
(10) legislatures enacting laws, and courts interpreting laws, must weigh and balance the right(s) granted v. the rights restricted by a specific law to determine if the law is justifiable and fair - this weighing and balancing involves determining if there a compelling public interest or purpose for the law that justifies granting certain rights while restricting other rights;
• example: highway speed limit laws protect everyone (drivers, passengers, and pedestrians), but also restrict the freedom of drivers to drive at a speed of their choice - on balance, the restriction is easily justified as there is an important purpose in protecting drivers, passengers, and pedestrians
• example: laws that prohibit alcohol consumption/purchase by minors grant rights to those 21 years and older, and restr ...
With GDPR coming into effect, we can see a lot of changes in the privacy policies of companies doing business online. The presentation is a description of GDPR and its implications in India and worldwide. The main aim of the presentation is to identify the key issues of data privacy and the rights available to the consumer who's data is to be shared.
"Data Breaches & the Upcoming Data Protection Legal Framework: What’s the Buz...Cédric Laurant
Cédric Laurant: Presentation at the SecureWorld Web Conference: "Incident Response: Clean Up on Aisle Nine" (29 Nov. 2012)
Presentation can be downloaded at http://cedriclaurant.com/about/presentations/, http://blog.cedriclaurant.org and http://security-breaches.com.
Data Protection Bill 2019 Participative Role of General Publicijtsrd
Protection of data privacy is a very crutial aspect considering the advent of technology in every Sphere of human life. It directly depends of how privacy is understood and the legal framework present behind that to protect ones privacy in the way it is meant to be understood. Data protection bill would let us understand the variety of rights and obligation when the question is about protection of ones privacy. At the same time, non invasion into the privacy of others is also quintessential. The research article would elucidate in detail the matter crux of Data protection bill considering the practical implications of the rules therein mentioned. The author would also deal with the suggestions would help, safeguarding the privacy at the very ground level. N Parmesh ""Data Protection Bill 2019: Participative Role of General Public"" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-4 | Issue-2 , February 2020,
URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd30250.pdf
Paper Url : https://www.ijtsrd.com/other-scientific-research-area/public-relations/30250/data-protection-bill-2019-participative-role-of-general-public/n-parmesh
Exercise 9
Regulatory Management:
Administrative Law
WHAT IS ADMINISTRATIVE LAW?
In addition to services and projects, public agencies
are responsible for enforcing government regulations.
While private and not-for-profit organizations, like
government agencies, have programs, projects, and
outsourcing, the public sector uniquely has the
authority to enforce regulations. Regulatory manage-
ment is the substance of administrative law. The
federal Administrative Procedures Act of 1946,
which has been amended only a few times since its
passage, is the most important single codification of
administrative law. Most, but not all, states have a
law similar to the federal one. However, administra-
tive law is tucked away in many different places-in
federal and state constitutions, statutes, executive
orders, signing statements, administrative rules,
waivers, treaties, and court decisions. All of these
things taken together as they affect public administra-
tion constitute administrative law.
WHY IS ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
IMPORTANT?
The traditional theory of public administration held
that elected officials make policy and administrators
implement it. Whether this neat distinction ever
applied in practice is doubtful. Certainly it does not
apply today. The scope of modern government is so
vast and the issues government confronts are so
technically complex that elected officials can attend
directly only to a minute proportion of the items
on the publ ic agenda. Consequently, much of the
day-to-day responsibility for making public policy is
delegated-formally or informally-to publ ic
administrators. This is what is meant by the concept
of the administrative state. Public administrators, not
legislators, are the ones who, for example, determine
safety standards for oil drilling, set the specific
requirements for health insurance companies, define
what can be classified as organic food, and decide
thousands of other questions, large and small.
General laws are passed and administrators fill in the
details-and the devil is in the details!
Administrative law sets forth the extent to which
agencies are allowed to fill in the details, the
procedures that must be used in doing so, and the
rights of those affected by agency actions to appeal
administrative decisions. Administrative law is
grounded in the basic separation of powers doctrine
incorporated into governance in the United States.
Agencies have important inherent powers, but these
powers are limited by the respective powers of
legislatures and courts.
STATUS OF ADMINISTRATIVE LAW
Whenever a legislative body passes a law, it specifies
which executive branch agency (existing or new) has
the authority for making detailed rules to describe
what the affected individuals and organizations must
do to comply with the law. And the limits of an
agency's authority are set by the legislature as well.
State legislatures, for example, have passed laws that
require drivers of cars to have a license based on
requ ...
Information in income-tax returns cannot be accessed through R.T.I. Act excep...D Murali ☆
Information in income-tax returns cannot be accessed through R.T.I. Act except on ground of larger public interest - T. N. Pandey - Article published in Business Advisor, dated October 25, 2016 - http://www.magzter.com/IN/Shrinikethan/Business-Advisor/Business/
Explore the Power of Transparency: Right to Information (RTI)
Delve into the fundamental right that empowers citizens to access information held by public authorities. This presentation sheds light on the essence of the Right to Information Act, its significance in fostering transparency, and its role in shaping accountable governance.
Discover the ins and outs of RTI, from its historical context to its modern-day implications. Uncover how this pivotal legislation acts as a catalyst for accountability, encouraging citizen engagement and ensuring responsive governance.
Join us on a journey through the nuances of RTI, understanding its applications, impact, and the power it bestows upon citizens to question, seek, and receive information from public bodies.
Empower yourself with knowledge and learn how the Right to Information fosters a more informed and participative society, transforming the landscape of governance for the better."
1ITC358ICT Management and Information SecurityChapter 12.docxhyacinthshackley2629
1
ITC358
ICT Management and Information Security
Chapter 12
Law and Ethics
In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others.
In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so. – Immanuel Kant
1
Objectives
Upon completion of this chapter, you should be able to:
Differentiate between law and ethics
Describe the ethical foundations and approaches that underlie modern codes of ethics
Identify major national and international laws that relate to the practice of information security
Describe the role of culture as it applies to ethics in information security
Identify current information on laws, regulations, and relevant professional organisations
2
Introduction
All information security professionals must understand the scope of an organisation’s legal and ethical responsibilities
Understand the current legal environment
Keep apprised of new laws, regulations, and ethical issues as they emerge
To minimise the organisation’s liabilities
Educate employees and management about their legal and ethical obligations
And proper use of information technology
3
Law and Ethics in Information Security
Laws
Rules adopted and enforced by governments to codify expected behaviour in modern society
The key difference between law and ethics is that law carries the sanction of a governing authority and ethics do not
Ethics are based on cultural mores
Relatively fixed moral attitudes or customs of a societal group
4
Information Security and the Law
InfoSec professionals and managers must understand the legal framework within which their organisations operate
Can influence the organisation to a greater or lesser extent, depending on the nature of the organisation and the scale on which it operates
5
Types of Law
Civil law
Pertains to relationships between and among individuals and organisations
Criminal law
Addresses violations harmful to society
Actively enforced and prosecuted by the state
Tort law (search Tort law in Australia)
A subset of civil law that allows individuals to seek redress in the event of personal, physical, or financial injury
6
Types of Law (cont’d.)
Private law
Regulates the relationships among individuals and among individuals and organisations
Family law, commercial law, and labour law
Public law
Regulates the structure and administration of government agencies and their relationships with citizens, employees, and other governments
Criminal, administrative, and constitutional law
7
Table 12-1a: Key U.S. laws of interest to information security professionals
8
Table 12-1b: Key U.S. laws of interest to information security professionals
9
Relevant U.S. Laws
The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act of 1986 (CFA Act)
The cornerstone of many computer-related federal laws and enforcement efforts
Amended in October 1996 by the National Information Infrastructure Protection Act
Modified several sections of the previous act, and increased the penalties for se.
NEW WHISTLEBLOWER INCENTIVES AND PROTECTION IN THE DODD-FRANK ACTptcollins
On July 21, 2010, President Obama signed into law the “Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act” (“Dodd-Frank Act”). The legislation is primarily designed to increase overall regulation of the financial industry, but it also contains numerous provisions designed to encourage and protect whistleblowers in and outside of the financial industry.
NMM Law Alert
Please be informed that currently there is no specific regulation regarding the protection of personal data in Turkey and protection of personal data is regulated under various legislation. However, the Draft Code on the Protection of Personal Data (the "Draft Code") is recently approved by the Prime Minister of Turkey to be submitted to the Parliament on January 18, 2016. As part of the European Union compliance procedure, the Draft Code is prepared by way of modelling European Union's Directive numbered 95/46 ("Directive No. 95/46") and published in 1995.Due to the fact that data protection is regulated under various laws and regulations, there is not any specific definition for “Personal Data” under our current legislation.
Similar to Comments on Draft Philippine FOI Law (20)
An act amending RA No. 8436, entitled "An act authorizing the Commission on Elections to use an Automated Election System in the May 11, 1998 National or local electoral exercise,...
In a May 9, 2024 paper, Juri Opitz from the University of Zurich, along with Shira Wein and Nathan Schneider form Georgetown University, discussed the importance of linguistic expertise in natural language processing (NLP) in an era dominated by large language models (LLMs).
The authors explained that while machine translation (MT) previously relied heavily on linguists, the landscape has shifted. “Linguistics is no longer front and center in the way we build NLP systems,” they said. With the emergence of LLMs, which can generate fluent text without the need for specialized modules to handle grammar or semantic coherence, the need for linguistic expertise in NLP is being questioned.
role of women and girls in various terror groupssadiakorobi2
Women have three distinct types of involvement: direct involvement in terrorist acts; enabling of others to commit such acts; and facilitating the disengagement of others from violent or extremist groups.
03062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
01062024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
‘वोटर्स विल मस्ट प्रीवेल’ (मतदाताओं को जीतना होगा) अभियान द्वारा जारी हेल्पलाइन नंबर, 4 जून को सुबह 7 बजे से दोपहर 12 बजे तक मतगणना प्रक्रिया में कहीं भी किसी भी तरह के उल्लंघन की रिपोर्ट करने के लिए खुला रहेगा।
31052024_First India Newspaper Jaipur.pdfFIRST INDIA
Find Latest India News and Breaking News these days from India on Politics, Business, Entertainment, Technology, Sports, Lifestyle and Coronavirus News in India and the world over that you can't miss. For real time update Visit our social media handle. Read First India NewsPaper in your morning replace. Visit First India.
CLICK:- https://firstindia.co.in/
#First_India_NewsPaper
हम आग्रह करते हैं कि जो भी सत्ता में आए, वह संविधान का पालन करे, उसकी रक्षा करे और उसे बनाए रखे।" प्रस्ताव में कुल तीन प्रमुख हस्तक्षेप और उनके तंत्र भी प्रस्तुत किए गए। पहला हस्तक्षेप स्वतंत्र मीडिया को प्रोत्साहित करके, वास्तविकता पर आधारित काउंटर नैरेटिव का निर्माण करके और सत्तारूढ़ सरकार द्वारा नियोजित मनोवैज्ञानिक हेरफेर की रणनीति का मुकाबला करके लोगों द्वारा निर्धारित कथा को बनाए रखना और उस पर कार्यकरना था।
1. Comments on Draft Philippine FOI Law
By ARTICLE 19
October 2003
The following comments on the Philippine freedom of information law are based on a
draft of An Act Implementing the Right of Access to Information on Matters of Public
Concern Guaranteed under Section Seven, Article III of the 1987 Constitution and For
Other Purposes (draft Act) provided to ARTICLE 19 by the Philippine Access to
Information Network (ATIN) in October 2003. They are intended to assist the
working group preparing a draft of the Act which is consistent with the highest
international and comparative standards.
Title
The Title appears essentially to limit the scope of the law to that of the corresponding
constitutional provision, which applies only to information on matters of public
concern. As noted in our comments of July 2002, this is an unfortunate limitation and
there would appear to be no reason why a law on access to information could not go
beyond the scope of the constitutional provision. We therefore recommend that the
title be amended to make it clear that the law implements both the constitutional right
and the larger right recognised under international law and under many formulations
of the right to freedom of expression (see also comments relating to sections 2 and 4).
Section 2
This section sets out a statement of State policy in this area, which is restricted to the
right to access information on matters of public concern. As with the title and scope of
information (section 4), we recommend that this be phrased more broadly.
Section 3
This section contains a broad formulation of the bodies covered by the obligations
under the draft Act. Consideration could be given to adding statutory bodies (some of
which may not be covered by the present formulation). Consideration could also be
given to adding private bodies which carry out public functions.
Section 4
This section sets out the scope of the law in relation to information covered. It both
provides a list of specific types of information and a catch-all for other information
imbued with public interest. The first part of the section actually includes both forms
of recording information – tapes, microfilm, videos, etc. – and specific types of
information – statements of policy, final opinions, orders, etc. – and it is thus a bit
unclear what the precise ambit of the law is in relation to information. We reiterate
our view that the draft Act should cover all information held by public bodies,
regardless of whether or not this can be said to be of public interest.
Section 5
This section deals with exceptions (we prefer this term to exemptions as the latter
implies the right of access is more of a privilege than a right). In our view, the
exceptions regime in a freedom of information law should include all legitimate
2. grounds for refusing access to information and, as a result, it should not be permitted
to be expanded by other laws.
This section still fails to include some important grounds for refusing to disclose
information including legally privileged information, information provided on a
confidential basis the disclosure of which would harm the commercial interests of the
provider or reveal a trade secret and information the disclosure of which would harm
a public economic interest, such as management of the economy or the commercial
interests of a public body. On the other hand, paragraph (e) of this section allows it to
be expanded by other laws. We recommend that this section be expanded to include
all legitimate grounds for refusing to disclose information but that, at the same time, it
effectively repeal other laws, to the extent that they are inconsistent with its
provisions. Allowing other laws to expand the scope of secrecy is, in our view, a
serious problem with a regime of exceptions, although it is also true that in most (but
not all) countries existing laws are left in place.
Another problem with the regime of exceptions is that there is no provision for a
public interest override, whereby the information should still be disclosed where the
overall public interest would be served by this. We recommend that a public interest
override be included in the draft Act.
Finally, the provision in the law we analysed in July 2002 for a review of
declassification after 5 years and automatic termination of classification after 10 years
has been removed from the draft Act. Although we did recommend some changes to
that provision, it is a positive measure to ensure that information does not remain
classified for long periods of time and we recommend that consideration be given to
including it in the draft Act.
Paragraph (b)(1)
This paragraph allows access to be refused where disclosure of the information would
‘unduly interfere with’ military operations and law enforcement. It is not entirely
clear what this standard would imply, but it seems likely to be lower than a harm test
per se, inasmuch as inconvenience, in addition to harm, would be included. We
recommend that the test in this paragraph be replaced by one based on the idea of a
likelihood of harm to the protected interests.
Paragraph (c)
This paragraph excludes from the obligation of disclosure all documents ‘obtained by
any committee of the two Houses of Congress’. This is a very broad class exception
(i.e. not linked to any harm), far broader than the exception relating to cabinet that is
found in some laws (which we also question). It is sure to include much information
the disclosure of would not be likely to cause any harm at all and it is not clear why it
was deemed necessary. We recommend that this provision either be removed from the
draft entirely or that it be significantly narrowed, preferably through the introduction
of a harm test.
Section 6
This section provides that a request for information shall be responded to within 2
working days or such other reasonable period of time that may be agree by the parties.
In our view 2 days is an unreasonably short period of time to comply with requests. It
3. is preferable to set out an achievable time limit in the law as otherwise, public bodies
will be in constant breach of the law leading to an undermining of respect for it. We
recommend that the time limit for responding to requests be lengthened to at least 10
days. On the other hand, this section allows for extension of the time limit, among
other things, to ‘consider fortuitous events or other events from force majeure, or
other analogous cases.’ This is a vague and broad formulation and we question
whether it is necessary. We recommend that this provision be removed from the draft
Act.
This section also provides for the levying of reasonable fees for the cost of
reproduction of the information. This is supplemented by section 10(e), which
provides for the promulgation of a schedule of fees. We recommend that these two
provisions be explicitly linked. Furthermore, consideration might be given to
providing for lower fees for certain requests, such as requests for personal information
or requests in the public interest.
Section 9
This section provides for penalties of imprisonment for denying access to information
‘without a valid ground’. We support the idea of penalties in such cases, but only
where the denial was done with the explicit intention of preventing access to
information. Also, imprisonment is an extremely harsh penalty for such a wrong. The
experience in other countries shows that penalties of this sort are rarely imposed. We
recommend that less stringent penalties, such as a fine, also be provided for in such
cases.
Omissions
Information Commissioner
The draft Act provides for oversight by the Office of the Ombudsman. In our view, an
administrative oversight body is essential to the success of a freedom of information
law and this is supported by the experience in other countries. The South African law,
for example, failed to provide for such a body and campaigners there are now trying
to have this remedied through amendments to the law. Such bodies play a key role
both in terms of an appeals mechanism (being far more accessible and rapid than the
courts) and in terms of promotional measures. While we welcome the inclusion of the
Ombudsman as an administrative appeal, we note that the oversight body should also
play a promotional role for the law. We therefore recommend either that an oversight
body specifically for the freedom of information system be provided for in the draft
Act or that the Ombudsman be directed to establish a specific branch dealing with
access to information which also has a positive promotional role under the law.
Duty to Publish
The draft Act fails to impose a positive duty to publish information, even in the
absence of a request, on public bodies. In our view, this is an important part of an
open information regime and we strongly recommend that a obligation of this sort be
added to the draft Act. The ARTICLE 19 Model Law, for example, requires public
bodies to actively publish the following information:
(a) a description of its structure, functions, duties and finances;
(b) relevant details concerning any services it provides directly to members of
the public;
4. (c) any direct request or complaints mechanisms available to members of the
public regarding acts or a failure to act by that body, along with a summary
of any requests, complaints or other direct actions by members of the public
and that body’s response;
(d) a simple guide containing adequate information about its record-keeping
systems, the types and forms of information it holds, the categories of
information it publishes and the procedure to be followed in making a
request for information;
(e) a description of the powers and duties of its senior officers, and the
procedure it follows in making decisions;
(f) any regulations, policies, rules, guides or manuals regarding the discharge
by that body of its functions;
(g) the content of all decisions and/or policies it has adopted which affect the
public, along with the reasons for them, any authoritative interpretations of
them, and any important background material; and
(h) any mechanisms or procedures by which members of the public may make
representations or otherwise influence the formulation of policy or the
exercise of powers by that body.
Form of Access
As with the draft we analysed in July 2002, the draft Act does not provide for
requesters to specify what form of access to the information in question they would
prefer (this might include, for example, inspection of the record, a paper copy, an
electronic copy, and so on). We recommend that such a provision be added to the
draft Act.
Record Maintenance
Proper record maintenance is essential to the success in practice of a freedom of
information law. If public bodies cannot locate records, they will be unable to provide
information to requesters. The draft Act fails to make any provision for record
maintenance. We recommend that a system be put in place whereby some central
body – for example, the Minister of Justice – sets standards for record maintenance
from time-to-time and then these standards are monitored by another, independent
body – for example, the Information Commissioner.
Protected Disclosures
Certain individuals should be protected against sanction for disclosing information.
Civil servants who leak information which discloses wrongdoing or serious
maladministration, for example relating to fraud or corruption (so-called
‘whistleblowers’), should be protected as long as they acted in good faith and in the
reasonable belief the information was correct. Similarly, civil servants should be
protected against sanction for information disclosed pursuant to the freedom of
information law, again as long as they acted reasonably and in good faith. Otherwise,
they will be wary of disclosing information for fear of making a mistake and the goals
of the legislation will be defeated. We recommend that both sorts of protection are
provided for in the draft Act.
Other Promotional Measures
A number of other promotional measures might be considered. Many laws provide for
the appointment by public bodies of information officers, with overall responsibility
for ensuring that the public body fulfils its obligations under the law and to provide a
central point of contact for requesters. Such officers can help to promote
5. implementation of the law and we recommend that consideration be given to requiring
public bodies to appoint these officers.
The ARTICLE 19 Model Law provides for the publication and wide dissemination of
a guide to using the Act by the Information Commissioner. This can be useful in
informing the public of their rights under the law and in assisting potential requesters.
We recommend that consideration be given to providing for the publication of a guide
to using the law.
Most freedom of information laws include some reporting obligations. Public bodies
should be required to report on their activities in implementing the law, either to the
Information Commissioner or to the responsible minister. Such reports should include
detailed information about the number of requests and how they have been dealt with,
including appeals, measures taken to promote better record keeping, information
actively published and so on. The Information Commissioner (or responsible
minister), in turn, should be required to report on an annual basis to the Congress on
overall progress under the law, including recommendations. This ensures that
Congress has a chance to consider the system at least annually. We recommend that
consideration be given to providing for the dual reporting system described.
We also recommend that consideration be given to including provisions in the law
relating to training of public officials. Such training is essential for implementation of
the law in practice. At a minimum, the administrative oversight body should be given
a role in relationship to such training and public bodies should be required to report
on measures taken in their annual reports. The law could also set minimum
obligations for public bodies regarding this training.