MPs’ expenses receipts to stay secret, IPSA rules – Daily Telegraph
“MPs’ expenses receipts should not be shown to the public, Westminster’s new standards watchdog has ruled.”
Daily Telegraph, 24th March 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Category: freedom of information
Kennedy v Charity Commission (Information Commissioner and another intervening) – WLR Daily
“The right to freedom of expression under article 10 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms was not engaged in a case in which the Charity Commission had refused to comply with a journalist’s request that he be supplied with certain information, by applying an absolute exemption which was said to derive from section 32(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.”
WLR Daily, 20th March 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
The right to receive information; journalists and inquiries – UK Human Rights Blog
“Tangled web, this one, but an important one. Many will remember George Galloway’s Mariam Appeal launched in response to sanctions imposed on Iraq in 1998, and the famous picture of GG with Saddam Hussein. Well, the Appeal was then inquired into by the Charity Commission, and this case concerns an attempt by a journalist, unsuccessful so far, to get hold of the documents which the Inquiry saw. But the Commission took the 5th amendment – or rather, in UK terms, a provision in the Freedom of Information Act (s.32(2))which exempted from disclosure any document placed in the custody of or created by an inquiry. Cue Article 10 ECHR, and in particular the bits which include the freedom to receive information.”
UK Human Rights Blog, 21st March 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Recent Developments in Freedom of Information: From Royal Oysters to Squatters’ Road-Maps and Beyond – 11 KBW
“The body of jurisprudence relating to freedom of information has continued to develop apace over the last year. The exponential growth in appeals being heard by both the first-tier and upper tribunals has meant that practitioners are having to work ever harder to keep abreast of changes to both the substantive law and practice and procedure.1 Rather than attempt a comprehensive review, this paper aims merely to address some of the more important developments in this area over the past year.”
Full story (PDF)
11 KBW, 16th March 2012
Source: www.11kbw.com
Freedom of Information and the Seven Year Itch – 11 KBW
“The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) came fully into force on 1st January 2005. Since then there has been a right of access to information, on request, exercisable against a wide range of public authorities. So we have a little over 7 years’ experience of a fully functioning FOIA regime.”
Full story (PDF)
11 KBW, 16th March 2012
Source: www.11kbw.com
Watchdog reduced data protection penalties in 50% of cases, FOI disclosure reveals – OUT-LAW.com
“The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has reduced fines for organisations that have breached data protection law in half of the cases in which it has issued direct fines, Out-Law.com can reveal.”
OUT-LAW.com, 15th March 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
Government must publish NHS risk register, rules tribunal – Daily Telegraph
“The Government has lost its appeal to keep the NHS risk register from being published, days before MPs get their last chance to debate and vote on its controversial health reforms.”
Daily Telegraph, 9th March 2012
Source: www.telegraph.co.uk
Whitehall’s worries about Freedom of Information case – BBC News
“Could publishing a Whitehall document outlining the possible risks of the NHS shake-up pose a risk to good governance? That’s been the argument made in an appeal against a Freedom of Information ruling in central London this week.”
BBC News, 8th March 2012
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Government department must disclose data from private email correspondence, ICO rules – OUT-LAW.com
“The Department for Education (DfE) must disclose information sent from a private email address belonging to the Education Secretary unless there is a legitimate reason to refuse doing so, the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 6th March 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
Flachglas Torgau GmbH v Federal Republic of Germany – WLR Daily
Flachglas Torgau GmbH v Federal Republic of Germany: (Case C-204/09); [2012] WLR (D) 45
“The option given to member states pursuant to the first sentence of the second sub-paragraph of article 2(2) of Parliament and Council Directive 2003/4/EC of not regarding ‘bodies or institutions acting in a … legislative capacity’ as ‘public authorities’ responsible for guaranteeing access to environmental information, could be applied to ministries to the extent that they participated in the legislative process, in particular by tabling draft laws or giving opinions.”
WLR Daily, 14th February 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Freedom of Information: this scaremongering leads to nothing but misinformation – The Guardian
“The information commissioner writes that Whitehall insiders’ criticisms of the Freedom of Information laws are nonsense.”
The Guardian, 19th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Secrecy laws ‘don’t harm the work of ministers’, says information commissioner – The Guardian
“Christopher Graham, the information commissioner, has hit out against the ‘distinguished Whitehall insiders’ who have called for the repeal of the freedom of information laws currently under review by parliament.”
The Guardian, 19th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
British Broadcasting Corporation and another v Sugar (No 2) – WLR Daily
British Broadcasting Corporation and another v Sugar (No 2) [2011] UKSC 4; [2012] WLR (D) 33
“Once it was established that information requested under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 was held by the BBC as a public authority for the purposes of journalism, it was effectively exempt from production under the Act, even if it was also held by the authority for other, possibly more important, purposes.”
WLR Daily, 15th February 2012
Source: www.iclr.co.uk
Supreme Court rules BBC need not reveal internal Israel-Palestine coverage report – UK Human Rights Blog
“The Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that an internal BBC report into its coverage of the Israeli Palestinian conflict was ‘information held for purposes journalism art or literature’ and therefore need not be released to the public under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).”
UK Human Rights Blog, 15th February 2012
Source: www.ukhumanrightsblog.com
Freedom of Information Act has not improved government, says MoJ – The Guardian
“The Freedom of Information Act has failed to increase understanding of government, may have reduced trust and has done little to improve decision-making in Westminster, according to the Ministry of Justice, presaging a parliamentary debate on whether to consider reforms to the seven-year-old legislation.”
The Guardian, 13th February 2012
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
Guardian journalist wins right to ‘sensitive’ court papers related to Griffin conviction – OUT-LAW.com
“The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) must disclose some papers it holds relating to the successful conviction of controversial right-wing politician Nick Griffin for a racial hate crime in the 1990s, an Information Rights Tribunal has ruled.”
OUT-LAW.com, 13th February 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
Assessment of FOI regime should be based on evidence not emotion, watchdog says – OUT-LAW.com
“MPs reviewing the UK’s freedom of information (FOI) regime should assess its success based on evidence and facts, the Information Commissioner has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 1st February 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
University’s back up copy of email should be disclosed, rules Tribunal – OUT-LAW.com
“The Information Commissioner should have ruled that a university was likely to be storing a copy of a deleted email it had refused a request to disclose, an Information Rights Tribunal has said.”
OUT-LAW.com, 30th January 2012
Source: www.out-law.com
Private Whitehall emails ‘are covered by info laws’ – BBC News
“Ministers and Whitehall officials have been warned not to try to hide sensitive government information by using private emails and text messages.”
BBC News, 15th December 2011
Source: www.bbc.co.uk
Civil servants fear FoI ruling over private emails and text messages – The Guardian
“Ministers, civil servants and government advisers are bracing themselves for an information commission ruling this week declaring that emails sent within government from private accounts are subject to freedom of information legislation and therefore can be disclosed.”
The Guardian, 13th December 2011
Source: www.guardian.co.uk
