The Impact of the Freedom of Information Act on Central Government in the UK PDF Download

Author: R. Hazell
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230281990
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 345

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Book Description
Based on interviews with officials, requesters and journalists, as well as a survey of FOI requesters and a study of stories in the national media, this book offers a unique insight into how the Freedom of Information Act 2000 really works.

Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Justice Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215047373
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 216

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Book Description
Incorporating HC 1849-i-v, session 2010-12. Additional written evidence is contained in Volume 3, available on the Committee website at www.parliament.uk/justicecttee

Author: David E. Pozen
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231545800
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 329

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Book Description
Today, transparency is a widely heralded value, and the U.S. Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is often held up as one of the transparency movement’s canonical achievements. Yet while many view the law as a powerful tool for journalists, activists, and ordinary citizens to pursue the public good, FOIA is beset by massive backlogs, and corporations and the powerful have become adept at using it for their own interests. Close observers of laws like FOIA have begun to question whether these laws interfere with good governance, display a deleterious anti-public-sector bias, or are otherwise inadequate for the twenty-first century’s challenges. Troubling Transparency brings together leading scholars from different disciplines to analyze freedom of information policies in the United States and abroad—how they are working, how they are failing, and how they might be improved. Contributors investigate the creation of FOIA; its day-to-day uses and limitations for the news media and for corporate and citizen requesters; its impact on government agencies; its global influence; recent alternatives to the FOIA model raised by the emergence of “open data” and other approaches to transparency; and the theoretical underpinnings of FOIA and the right to know. In addition to examining the mixed legacy and effectiveness of FOIA, contributors debate how best to move forward to improve access to information and government functioning. Neither romanticizing FOIA nor downplaying its real and symbolic achievements, Troubling Transparency is a timely and comprehensive consideration of laws such as FOIA and the larger project of open government, with wide-ranging lessons for journalism, law, government, and civil society.

Author: Ben Worthy
Publisher: Manchester University Press
ISBN: 1526108526
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
Why do governments pass freedom of information laws? The symbolic power and force surrounding FOI makes it appealing as an electoral promise but hard to disengage from once in power. However, behind closed doors compromises and manoeuvres ensure that bold policies are seriously weakened before they reach the statute book. The politics of freedom of information examines how Tony Blair's government proposed a radical FOI law only to back down in fear of what it would do. But FOI survived, in part due to the government's reluctance to be seen to reject a law that spoke of 'freedom', 'information' and 'rights'. After comparing the British experience with the difficult development of FOI in Australia, India and the United States – and the rather different cases of Ireland and New Zealand – the book concludes by looking at how the disruptive, dynamic and democratic effects of FOI laws continue to cause controversy once in operation.

Author: Paul Gibbons
Publisher: Facet Publishing
ISBN: 1783303530
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 312

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Book Description
Freedom of information (FOI) is now an international phenomenon with over 100 countries from Albania to Zimbabwe enacting the right to know for their citizens. Since 2005, the UK’s Freedom of Information Act has opened up thousands of public bodies to unparalleled scrutiny and prompted further moves to transparency. Wherever the right to know is introduced, its success depends on the way it is implemented. In organisations worldwide, FOI only works because of those who oversee its operation on a day-to-day basis, promoting openness, processing requests and advising colleagues and the public. FOI is dependent on the FOI Officers. The Freedom of Information Officer’s Handbook is a comprehensive guide to FOI and its management. It is designed to be an indispensable tool for FOI Officers and their colleagues. It includes: - a guide to the UK’s FOI Act, the right to know and the exemptions - clear analysis of the most important case law and its implications for the handling of FOI requests - pointers to the best resources to help FOI officers in their work - explanations of how FOI interacts with other legislation, including detailed explorations of the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 and how the EU’s General Data Protection Regulation impacts on FOI - a look at requirements to proactively publish information and the effect of copyright and re-use laws on FOI and open data - comparisons of the UK’s Act with FOI legislation in other jurisdictions from Scotland to South Africa - an exploration of the role of the FOI Officer: who they are, what they do, their career development and what makes them effective - suggestions on how to embed FOI within an organisation using effective procedures, technology and training - a stage-by-stage guide to processing requests for information. The Freedom of Information Officers’ Handbook includes the latest developments in FOI including amendments made to the UK’s FOI Act by the Data Protection Act 2018 and the revised s.45 code of practice published by the Cabinet Office in July 2018.

Author: Juha Mustonen
Publisher:
ISBN: 9789529951925
Category : Freedom of information
Languages : en
Pages : 103

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Book Description

Author: Great Britain: Ministry of Justice
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780101823623
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 received Royal Assent on 30 November 2000 and came into full effect on 1 January 2005. The Act gave the public, for the first time, a statutory right (subject to appropriate limitations) to i) find out if a public authority held specified information and, ii) if so, to be provided with access to it. This Memorandum revisits the original objectives and evaluates whether those have been met. It is felt that the FIOA has become embedded in the culture of public authorities and its effects on openness and transparency are clear. The successes do not come without cost, however, primarily in the form of concern at the time taken to process and respond to FOI requests, to conduct public interest tests and consider exemptions. The extent though to which original decisions are neither complained against, or are upheld on complaint, indicate that the FOIA is working largely as it should

Author: Great Britain. Cabinet Office
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780101835329
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 56

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Book Description
This White Paper sets out clearly how the UK will continue to unlock and seize the benefits of data sharing in the future in a responsible way. Firstly by ensuring equality in access to data; secondly in building greater trust in public data; and thirdly by ensuring that public services are more personalised and efficient by being smarter with the data public bodies hold. The UK is currently co-chairing the Open Government Partnership of 55 governments whose theme is 'Transparency drives prosperity' with the belief that opening up data will empower citizens, foster innovation and reform public services. It is also, therefore, about how others participate. About businesses and organisations becoming more transparent themselves and pushing data into the public domain and individuals taking that data and using it to make better decisions or press for different types of services.

Author: Duff, Alistair S.
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1789903580
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 464

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Book Description
This comprehensive and innovative Research Handbook tackles the pressing issues confronting us at the dawn of the global network society, including freedom of speech, government transparency and the digital divide. Engaging with controversial problems of public policy including freedom of expression, copyright and information inequality, the Research Handbook on Information Policy offers a well-rounded exploration of the history and future of this vital field.

Author: Patrick Birkinshaw
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1784518972
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 967

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Book Description
Government and Information: The Law Relating to Access, Disclosure and their Regulation is the leading text offering comprehensive and practical advice on the access, disclosure and retention of government records under UK, EU and ECHR requirements. It is essential reading for all those dealing with public authority information. The fifth edition is extensively revised following numerous developments in both UK and EU law as well as the ever expanding case law on information rights under statutory, Convention and common law provisions. Legislation: Justice and Security Act 2013; Crime and Courts Act 2013 (s 34 in relation to press standards following Leveson); Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015 Investigatory Powers Bill 2016; Environmental Information Regulations 2004; General Data Protection Regulation 2016; Key cases since the last edition include: Evans v Attorney General [2015] UKSC 21 - the SC ruled that the Attorney General had acted unlawfully in issuing a veto preventing disclosure Kennedy v Charities Commission [2014] UKSC 20 - Supreme Court extended the ambit of the common law in relation to access to information and transparency Case 362/14 Schrems [2015]) - involving data transfer to the USA PJS v Newsgroup Newspapers ltd [2016] UKSC 26 – developing the law of personal privacy