Freedom Of Information Legislation Research Articles

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION IN MALAYSIA: INTERNATIONAL LEGAL INSTRUMENTS AND RESTRICTIONS UNDER NATIONAL LAW

The acceptance of Freedom of Information (FOI) as a fundamental mechanism for enhancing accountability and transparency in the public sector is widely recognized. Numerous international legal instruments (Conventions) have advocated for the establishment and enforcement of legal frameworks pertaining to the FOI. The FOI legislation serves two essential functions, namely enhancing democratic engagement and mitigating corruption within the public sphere. Despite the acceptability of FOI on the global stage, Malaysia lacks a comprehensive legal framework to address the right to access information, except for Selangor and Penang. Additionally, there are various national legislations that hinder the exercise of FOI. This article’s objective is to examine the use of the FOI concept within the framework of international legal instruments as well as the challenges posed by Malaysian national laws that impose limitations on its implementation. The objective is achieved by employing a doctrinal methodology that incorporates international legal instruments as well as Malaysia’s legislations (Constitution, Acts and Enactments) pertaining to the FOI. The findings show the restrictions under national law make it difficult to implement FOI legal regimes in Malaysia. This paper argues that implementing FOI can only be materialized through a comprehensive review of existing laws and administrative structure reform by adapting universal standards on FOI as stated under international legal instruments. This article serves as guidelines for policymakers intending to address FOI as the anti-corruption mechanism in public sectors. Moreover, recommendations are made for the implementation of FOI into Malaysia’s domestic laws.

Geojournalism, data journalism and crowdsourcing: The case of Eco-Nai+ in Nigeria

Data journalism is increasingly vital in our data-driven society, requiring professionals to gather, analyze, and visualize data for public understanding. While scholars recognize its significance, the audience-centric aspects remain underexplored. This study focuses on Eco-Nai+, a digital geo-journalism platform aiming to be Nigeria’s first. It provides interactive data access via web and mobile apps and tools for geospatial data handling. Employing a multi-method approach, including document analysis, interviews, and platform analysis, this study examines how geo-data enhances data-driven storytelling, fosters cooperation and co-creation in data collection, and creates a new income stream for news organizations. From a business standpoint, Eco-Nai + functions as a “newstech” company, capitalizing on digital age challenges. It offers journalists a means to inform and engage the public and policymakers in vital environmental discussions, especially in environments with limited open data sources. Crowdsourcing data is critical in this context, where open data and freedom of information legislation are lacking. This research contributes to the data journalism discourse by exploring audience involvement in data-driven storytelling and advocating for public participation in data journalism projects to enhance reporting and understand data’s societal role. It also underscores the value of geojournalism skills in delivering spatial products and thematic maps, adding context and insights beyond numerical data. Eco-Nai + exemplifies the potential for data journalism to bridge information gaps and drive meaningful conversations in an increasingly data-centric world.

Let the people know, and the country will be safe: FOI models in South Africa and Zimbabwe

PurposeDemocratic countries all over the world are embarking on initiatives to empower citizens through public participation. One of the tools used by countries to promote public participation is the enactment and implementation of freedom of information (FOI) legislation, as it is the case with South Africa and Zimbabwe. Despite having legislation reaffirming the need for people’s right to know, practices in South Africa and Zimbabwe indicate the opposite. The purpose of this study is to explore FOI models in South Africa and Zimbabwe, with a view to recommend ways in which people’s right to know can be promoted.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study used interviews to collect the data from 12 FOI experts in South Africa and Zimbabwe, who were selected through the snowball sampling technique. Data collected through interviews were supplemented by the data collected through document analysis.FindingsThe study concluded that the key role players need to make efforts to ensure that the right to know, which is associated with FOI, is being realised in both countries. FOI legislation, in both countries, is imprecise and needs to be revised to ensure effective implementation.Originality/valueThe study demonstrates that FOI is a necessary tool for people to be involved in decision-making in government. People’s rights to know can be achieved by successfully implementing FOI legislation.

The Dutch Open Government Act: Bridging old and new open government?

Across the globe, ‘old’ open government is gradually transforming into ‘new’ open government. While freedom of information (FOI) legislation is usually associated with old open government, this legislation itself is also on the move. This country report discusses to what extent the Dutch Open Government Act, that has been enacted very recently, reflects this shift from old to new open government. While certainly incorporating features of modern open government, such as the emphasis on machine-readable formats of government documents, traditional elements of FOI legislation, such as the right to request for information without stating an interest, are preserved to ensure adequate access to government information.

Compliance with freedom of information legislation by public bodies in South Africa

In South Africa, freedom of information (FOI) is entrenched in section 32 of the Constitution, which guarantees every citizen the right of access to any information held by the state or by any other person that is to be used for the protection or exercise of any right. The Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) is the law that gives effect to section 32 of the Constitution. Regardless of a remarkable trend towards the adoption of FOI laws, international trends have shown this does not automatically translate into fulfilment of people's right to information. This study utilised mixed method research through the explanatory sequential design to assess compliance with FOI legislation by public bodies in South Africa, with a view to develop a model for implementation of FOI. The study first conducted a quantitative study by analysing the reports of the South African Human Rights Commission from the reporting years 2006/07 to 2016/07 to assess compliance with sections 14, 15, 16, 17 and 32 of the PAIA. Thereafter, a qualitative study through interviews with purposively chosen participants was conducted to substantiate the findings of a quantitative study. Key results suggest that over the years, there were problems in the implementation of the FOI legislation in South Africa and its use was limited. Where implementation has taken place, it has been partial and inconsistent. The responsibility for the implementation of FOI legislation in most public bodies is assigned to legal departments that do not have knowledge of what records are created, and where and how they are kept. With regard to compliance, in terms of the degree of comparison, the situation was better in national departments, worse in provincial departments and worst in municipalities. The study recommends the establishment of an information governance unit to implement FOI in public bodies. Failure to assign responsibility to a relevant unit would perpetuate the non-compliance with FOI legislation by public bodies in South Africa. A model for the implementation of PAIA within a public body is suggested.

El acceso a la información gubernamental: análisis empírico de políticas de transparencia en cuatro países centroamericanos

El artículo analiza el funcionamiento de los sistemas de acceso a la información pública en cuatro países centroamericanos (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua y Panamá) a partir de la metodología utilizada en el proyecto Métrica de la Transparencia 2010, realizado por el Centro de Investigación y Docencia Económicas (CIDE). El objetivo específico consiste en identificar retos comunes, problemas recurrentes y mejores prácticas en materia de acceso a la información gubernamental en los cuatro países mencionados. El estudio muestra que, a pesar de que en todos los países se ha avanzado en consolidar una legislación especializada, persisten retos importantes para institucionalizar el funcionamiento de dicho sistema y consolidar su capacidad para efectivamente hacer pública –tanto de manera proactiva como en reacción a solicitudes concretas de los ciudadanos– la información gubernamental. El principal desafío es contar con una política pública que permita estructurar un sistema coherente de acceso a la información.

Freedom of information legislation and the democratic oversight narrative

ABSTRACT Oversight of national security operations is often presented as vital to ensuring military and intelligence personnel of democratic states abide by the rule of law. Collectively, such portrayals place stock in what this paper conceptualizes as the democratic oversight narrative. In the US and the UK, freedom of information legislation is presented as a tool giving the democratic oversight narrative real-world form. This occurs, it is argued, because such legislation allows those (such as legislators and the media) responsible for national security oversight access to information about said operations in order to mediate between citizens and states. In recent years, documents containing implicatory information have been released by the US and the UK, but often only after prolonged legal cases and significant obstruction by both states. Drawing on documents pertaining to processes set in motion by the American Civil Liberties Union and the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition focused on obtaining information about War on Terror era detainee abuse, this paper argues those engaged in oversight of US and UK national security operations are faced with unduly restrictive barriers and impediments when seeking the disclosure of potentially implicatory information that should, via oversight tools such as freedom of information processes, legitimately be released. These barriers and impediments arise, it is shown, because both states can counter oversight by drawing on an opposing set of tools to stop (or at least stall) the release of such information.

Freedom of Information Applications and the Confidentiality of University Research and Research Review Processes

There have been a number of disputed freedom of information (FOI) applications concerning research conducted at Australian universities. This article explores how FOI legislative principles favouring disclosure and the legislative exemptions operate where the content, methodologies, funding and ethics processes of university research are being questioned. It examines several decisions, identifying the types of research related information being sought by FOI applicants and the main grounds relied upon to refuse disclosure. It focuses on the balancing of the disclosure required under FOI legislation and the confidentiality that many argue is an essential element of the university research environment.

What enhances the right to information? A cross‐national examination of legal, technological, and administrative influences

AbstractThis study examines the influence of legal arrangements (freedom of information legislation), technological advancements (e‐government), and administrative capacity (government effectiveness) on the right to information with a cross‐country view. To that end, it uses various global indicators. A regression‐based analysis reveals that legal guarantees and e‐government do not significantly influence the extent to which the right to information is realised. Freedom of information legislation can offer legal guarantees for the right to information; however, the outcomes in terms of the right to information have not yet been reached for many new adopters of the legislation. While the contribution of e‐government to the right to information is also insignificant, a government's administrative capacity is pivotal to achieving the right to information.

A Comparative Study of Freedom of Information Legislation in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe

Access to information has been a major concern all over the world, with governments drafting legislation to address it. Information is critical especially in participatory democracies where citizens need access to information to make informed decisions and governments have to be transparent. Freedom of Information legislation (FOI) has been expected to afford citizens the right to information to participate in democratic processes in their countries. FOI legislation has been enacted in some countries under the pretext that they will make information accessible. However, over the years most information access legislation and policies have come under scrutiny, for actually hindering and restricting access to information by members of the public. This study therefore compares and contrasts access to information laws of Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, with the view to find disparities, parities and how restrictive or free they are. This study reviews literature on Information Access Laws of the three countries. Document analysis is used to analyse such legislation. This study will go a long way in showing how the three countries can learn from each other’s information access laws. It also reflects on the strengths and weaknesses of these laws, showing areas which need to be improved and possibly amended. There is an abundance of research on FOI conducted by various scholars but none was a comparative study of the three aforementioned countries.Â

Freedom of information and the public interest: the Commonwealth experience

ABSTRACTThis article commences with a discussion of the concept of public interest generally and more specifically within the context of the common law. It then considers the role of public interest tests in the Freedom of information (FOI) legislation of Commonwealth countries and presents a taxonomy of public interest tests in Commonwealth FOI legislation. It concludes by considering the merits of the ground-breaking developments in the approach to public interest tests in Australian FOI law and argues that there are valuable insights to be gained from the experience of this early FOI adopter.

OVERLAPPING TEMPORALITIES – THE JUDGE, THE HISTORIAN AND THE CITIZEN

This article discusses an issue of increasing relevance to archivists – the temporality of archives. It describes the breakdown of the traditional model in which records are first used for current (often legal) purposes and are then transferred to the archives where they are no longer used for current purposes but for purely historical ones. This neat process is rapidly breaking down, partly because of changes in legal processes – the end of the ban on double jeopardy and cold case reviews but also because many more recent records are being made available in archives, while Freedom of Information legislation is also having an impact. More importantly, there has been an increase in the number of public inquiries which are investigating large scale and horrendous tragedies which occurred in or near contemporary time. These developments are dragging records back from the archives and into the realm of the courts of law in unprecedented numbers. At the same time, the internet has had the effect of creating a wholly new form of archive which operates simultaneous in both current and historical time. The changing nature of the archive presents radical challenges both to archivists and to governments. It cries out for engagement by the archival profession, whose territory is being colonised by other disciplines.

Transparency and communication can improve wildlife welfare outcomes: A case of kangaroos

All countries manage human and wildlife coexistence. Where traditionally humans may have killed animals perceived to be a problem, this is often no longer legal or socially acceptable. Decision-makers tend to feel less strongly about coexistence issues than the people who attempt to influence them on behalf of human or wildlife interests. It has been argued that links between human interests and decisions affecting wildlife should be transparent, and that open decision making processes involving a range of local stakeholders will improve outcomes for humans and wildlife. This paper examines one case incident in an ongoing conflict between an international car racing track and kangaroos that have occasionally been found on the track during a race, causing danger to themselves and race participants. A secret local government report and plan to cull kangaroos was obtained using Freedom of Information legislation. When released to the media the subsequent public discussion showed a much greater concern for kangaroo stress, harm and right to live than the official report, and called for consideration of a range of alternatives to culling. This led to postponement of culling plans, and commitment to a more open community discussion of options. The case clearly supports claims that greater transparency and local stakeholder participation in management decision processes can improve welfare outcomes for non-human animals.

From ‘window dressing’ to ‘door openers’? Freedom of Information legislation, public demand, and state compliance in South East Europe

Strong arguments are made that freedom of information (FOI) laws can be particularly beneficial in young democracies while providing an important tool that safeguards basic rights. Despite the drastic increase of the number and quality of FOI laws adopted during the last few decades, press freedom around the world has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade while abuses of power and corruption continue to ravage societies around the world. This comparative study examines the outcomes of FOI laws in the context of new democracies of South East Europe. It adopts a mix methodological approach to (1) examine citizen demand for access to information and government compliance with FOI laws and (2) explore structural and political conditions that affect demand and compliance. Results from data collected in Albania, Kosovo, and Montenegro suggest that the positive outcomes of the FOI laws are highly dependent on public demand and supervisory institutions. While FOI non-compliance can be attributed to the limited administrative capacities, the failure to put in place access structures also indicates the erosion of leadership political will during the implementation phase as a consequence of the lack of public demand. This article emphasizes the importance of non-political institutions, spotlighting the critical role of civil society and the media.

Internet racism, journalism and the principle of public access: ethical challenges for qualitative research into ‘media attractive’ court cases

ABSTRACTThis paper addresses the risk of research exposing people with an immigrant background in criminal court cases to Internet-based racist persecution, due to mismanagement of general ethical guidelines. The principle of informed consent, ideally serving to protect people under study from harm may, in fact, cause them more harm due to the interest among certain Internet-based networks of spreading identifiable, degrading information. Arguments are based on ethically challenging experiences from two ethnographic research projects carried out in Swedish district court environments, focused on immigrant court cases. Ethical advice provided by ethical review boards and established research guidelines, were based on an unawareness of the potentially destructive rendezvous in media attractive immigrant court cases between ‘ethically informed’ research, crime journalism, freedom of information legislation and ‘Internet vigilantes’ on a quest to persecute court participants and their families in the global digital arena.

Black Spiders Weaving Webs: The Constitutional Implications of Executive Veto of Tribunal Determinations

In R (Evans) v Attorney General, the Supreme Court quashed the Attorney General's statutory veto of the Upper Tribunal's original determination made under freedom of information legislation. The Upper Tribunal had held that so‐called ‘advocacy’ memos should be published after a full hearing on the merits. The Supreme Court split five to two, with the lead judgment of Lord Neuberger using constitutional rather than administrative language and focusing on the rule of law. This note raises four objections to the lead judgment. First, it argues that the Upper Tribunal was acting in an executive not judicial capacity and the veto was not therefore a breach of the rule of law. Secondly it suggests the veto clause is best understood as a variant Henry VIII clause. Thirdly, it suggests Lord Neuberger's judgment is founded on a paradox. Finally, it argues that the judgment undermines parliamentary sovereignty. Future implications are then considered.

Access to Information in the West Indies: Gradual Progression to Greater Openness

Since the turn of the 21st century, the region formerly known as the British West Indies has begun to embark slowly on the implementation of information rights legislation including freedom of information (FOI) legislation. The historical trajectory of the region has had a profound impact on its current position on the sharing of information between public entities and citizens. One of the challenges affecting the success of the implementation of FOI legislation is the state of recordkeeping in the territories, which has resulted in difficulties with providing access to official records and information over time. This article, from the perspective of an archivist/records manager, explores whether the historical past of the West Indies has some bearing on the slow enactment of FOI in the region and how proper recordkeeping could enhance the chances of success in implementation of FOI. It focuses on two main concepts, ‘open government’ and ‘citizen engagement’, underpinning FOI to assess whether the region has fully embraced these ideas and thus paved the way for implementation. It examines the Jamaican experience with FOI to determine whether this can be viewed as an effective model for other territories of the region to provide access to information for the betterment of West Indian society at large.

Transnational advocacy and domestic law: International NGOs and the design of freedom of information laws

Can international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) influence domestic policy? This paper offers new quantitative evidence of the impact of INGOs in one specific policy area—Freedom of Information (FOI) laws—as well as highlighting an under-studied mechanism of INGO influence on the design of domestic laws. I test this argument by examining the effect of legal analyses of draft FOI legislation published by the INGO Article 19. These analyses provide expert legal assessments and make normative evaluations—both information politics and symbolic politics. I find that in countries in which Article 19 conducted legal analyses, the design of the subsequently passed FOI laws was significantly stronger than in countries that were not subject to such analyses. I demonstrate that this finding is not an artifact of Article 19’s selection process. I also present suggestive evidence that highlights symbolic politics, not information politics, as the more salient mechanism. Finally, I examine the process of FOI drafting and adoption in Serbia to illustrate the argument and specific mechanisms at work.

Health department refuses to release correspondence defining seven day working

The Department of Health for England has refused a request to see correspondence between itself and the prime minister discussing the definition of seven day services. The department refused a request from BMJ Careers made under freedom of information legislation on the grounds that the information “relates to the formulation or development of government policy.” It said that officials needed to be able to “discuss policy options without the …

Budget Transparency in Czech Local Government

Abstract The paper evaluates budget transparency in Czech local government. The Disclosure requirements specified in the legislation are fragmented: not all existing budget documents must be published and noncompliance only leads to sanctions in some cases. Analysis and comparison of disclosure practice in the 22 Prague districts revealed that districts comply with the disclosure requirements stipulated in the Budgetary rules but often fail to comply with the requirements stipulated by the freedom of information legislation. The commitment to transparency in form of a policy statement has no impact on the overall evaluation of the districts but it is positively associated with compilation of narratives accompanying both the draft budget and draft year-end report. The size of the district plays only a limited role.