Access to information legislation as a means to achieve transparency in Ghanaian governance

IFLA Journal ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 175-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cletus D. Kuunifaa
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Gear Up ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
The Public ◽  
Background Context ◽  
Similar Legislation

Access to information and transparency are considered a vaccine for ensuring good governance and countries must gear up for this vaccine to ensure accountability and prevent corruption. This paper probes the anticipated implementation challenges of the freedom-of-information (FOI) law in Jamaica, and the lessons Ghana stands to learn to improve on its FOI bill, currently at a deliberative stage. The lack of transparency in government or the public sector as a result of lack of access to governmental or public information will be tackled in this study. After describing the background, context, framework and methodology of the study, the paper presents findings, makes a comparative analysis, and provides recommendations especially for Ghana, which is still in the process of passing similar legislation.

scholarly journals UU KETERBUKAAN INFORMASI PUBLIK ANTARA HARAPAN DAN KENYATAAN

2016 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 131
Author(s):  
Suko Widodo
Keyword(s):  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Public Institutions ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Property ◽  
Information Law ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government

Disclosure of public information is one manifestation of the implementation of good governance where the public information disclosure is the duty of government and public institutions. It refers to the fact that the public information is public property and is not owned by the government and public institutions. Therefore, to be able to meet these conditions, the Freedom of Information Law was established, despite the fact that the law is not so popular in the community, so it is still necessary

scholarly journals Strategi Komunikasi Politik dan Budaya Transparansi Partai Politik

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Atie Rachmiatie ◽  
O Hasbiansyah ◽  
Ema Khotimah ◽  
Dadi Ahmadi
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Public Information ◽  
The Political ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Governance System ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Right

Freedom of information has become a momentum for the effort to realize good governance and promote democratic governance system in Indonesia. With the enactment of Freedom of Information Law No. 14 of 2008, the public was given access to the right of public information as human right such as  guaranteed by law. Public freedom of  information should encourage public participation. Political parties as public institutions also have to give  information  in the service of the public who wish to access any kind of information which is regulated by law. However, based on reports ICW, how difficult political parties provide the information requested by the ICW. This Article examines the political culture, political communication strategies and public freedom of information within the political parties.

scholarly journals The Right to Public Information. Selected Interpretation Doubts in the Doctrine and Jurisprudence of Administrative Courts

2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 129
Author(s):  
Dominik J. Kościuk ◽  
Justyna Kulikowska-Kulesza
Keyword(s):  
Public Information ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Information Bulletin ◽  
The Public ◽  
Disclosure Of Information ◽  
Disclosure Rules ◽  
Administrative Courts ◽  
The Right ◽  
Made In

<p>The provisions of the Act on Access to Public Information regulate, among others, the subjective and objective scope of the right to public information, reasons for restricting access to information, procedure and form of disclosure, rules for creating and publishing information in the Public Information Bulletin, costs of activities leading to the disclosure of information and the establishment of complaint proceedings in the event of refusal to provide the public information requested. Therefore, it is worth to pay attention to several problems arising from the analysis of statutory provisions and the practical consequences of applying the Act of 6 September 2001 on Access to Public Information. The current, extremely extensive, output of doctrine and jurisprudence allows for a fairly “efficient” summary of the considerations made in both literature and judicial and administrative case law.</p>

The ICT and the Legislation on Transparency and Freedom of Information

2015 ◽  
pp. 347-365
Author(s):  
Alejandro Sáez-Martín ◽  
Arturo Haro-de-Rosario ◽  
Manuela García-Tabuyo ◽  
María Del Carmen Caba-Pérez
Keyword(s):  
Dominican Republic ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Information Disclosure ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Electoral Turnout ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Many ◽  
Economic Capacity

The many cases of corruption that have come to light, among other scandals, have led the public to lose faith in the management of public institutions. In order to regain confidence, the government needs to inform its citizens of all its actions. Public information should be accessible and controlled by means of a regulatory framework. The aim of this chapter is to analyze the transparency achieved and the progress still needed to be made by Dominican Republic municipalities with regards to complying with the requirements of the law on public information management. The chapter discusses the voluntary transparency achieved and factors that affect the implementation of information policies. The results highlight deficiencies in certain areas of online public information disclosure. The population size, economic capacity and electoral turnout are all factors that affect the online dissemination of public information by local governments in the Dominican Republic.

Access to and Use of Publicly Available Information

2011 ◽  
pp. 1977-1990
Author(s):  
Philip Leith
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Public Authority ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Access Rights ◽  
Legal Constraints ◽  
Available Information

Public information presumes that the information is somehow public and, presumably, that this can be utilized by members of the public. Unfortunately, things are more complex than this simple definition suggests, and we therefore need to look at various issues relating to public information which limit access and usage, for example, the nature of privacy, sharing information within government, court records, ownership of public information, and freedom of information. The exemplars dealt with later in the article will demonstrate the legal constraints upon the usage of public information in a digital environment and help raise awareness of such limitations. Public information cannot be formally defined (as a list of items, say) except to indicate it is that information which has historically been available to the public in print form and/or through some generally open process. No formal definition is possible because this depends to a very large extent upon cultural differences. For example, tax returns are viewed as private documents in the United Kingdom open only to the tax authorities (unless otherwise authorized, e.g., in criminal proceedings) whereas in Sweden they can be accessed by any member of the public. Furthermore, the source of public information may also vary: what information is produced by a public authority in one country may not be so carried out in another. The legal constraints upon access and use of public information include the following: • Privacy/confidentiality of public data • Sharing and processing of public data collected for divergent purposes • Freedom of information rights to public data • Copyright and database rights in public data Access to public information may be enabled through a formal public register, through statutory mechanism, or other less formal means. Note that being accessible does not necessarily mean that users are free to use this information in any way they wish: copyright licenses in particular are not always passed along with access rights, so that the public may inspect a document but may not use it in other ways (such as republishing). Reasons for this are obvious: the collection of data by government can be expensive and there can be opposition to subsidising commercial activity from the public purse. In the United States, federal materials are explicitly excluded from copyright protection, but this is rarely the case in Europe (see www.hmso.gov.uk for the UK situation). Another example is that it is possible in most countries to attend local criminal courts or peruse local newspapers and draw up a database of prosecutions in the local area. The database could include information on drunk drivers, sexual offenders, and burglars, and it would be possible to include a wide variety of information—all of it, clearly, of a public nature. Indeed, such activities have been common for many years where credit agencies have collected information from courts on debtors and made this available on a commercial basis. But there are questions: Is all court-based information public? What limitations might be found in some countries and not in others to the dissemination of this information? See Elkin-Koren and Weinstock Netanel (2002) for the general tendency toward commodification of information and Pattenden (2003) for professional confidentiality where it impinges upon public service. On a more mundane level, judgments from most European courts are copyright of the relevant government or agency. In the United Kingdom, differing again, there is some dispute over whether the judge or Court Service owns the judgment, and frequently the only text version of a judgment is copyright of the privately employed court stenographer. Thus the publicly available information which is being discussed here is that which emanates from a public authority and can be accessed by members of the public, but will usually have some constraint and limitation on how it can be reused by the public. We are interested in outlining these constraints.

Freedom of Information

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura L. Stein ◽  
Lindita Camaj
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
18Th Century ◽  
Response Times ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Individual Country ◽  
Ample Evidence

Freedom of information (FOI; also known as right to information and access to information) laws around the world establish rights and procedures around access to public information. Normative assumptions examine what’s behind FOI legislation, including rationales stemming from human and political rights frameworks, participatory democratic theory, and transparency and accountability initiatives. Although the freedom of information concept first arose as part of 18th-century enlightenment thinking, recent FOI law took shape in the mid-20th century, influenced by post–World War II human rights treaties, incentives provided by transnational organizations and funders, and individual country support for access to government information. Today, the majority of the world’s countries have FOI laws, most of which were adopted after 1990. FOI laws commonly address who can request information, who must provide information, what information is accessible, what information must be proactively disclosed, and what information is exempted from the law. FOI laws also establish procedural rules around information requests, including mandated response times for requests, appeals processes for denied requests, penalties for improperly withholding information, processes fees, and government reports on the law’s usage. Only a small percentage of people make FOI requests in most nations. Although it varies from country to country, requests from specific groups, including private individuals, commercial businesses, journalists, and nongovernmental organizations, often predominate. FOI requests may be political, professional, or personal in nature, although many FOI laws prohibit governments from asking about or evaluating the reasons for an information request. The ability of FOI laws to provide effective access to information depends on several factors. These include how the laws are written, public awareness of FOI, the cooperation and compliance of government agencies and institutions, and broader political and social conditions affecting FOI implementation and use. Scholars have measured the effects of FOI laws in both quantitative and qualitative terms. While quantitative data yield a picture of who uses FOI laws and how frequently, qualitative and anecdotal data provide ample evidence that such laws have had a positive impact on individuals’ abilities to obtain and use public information. Finally, FOI laws are necessary, but not sufficient, mechanisms for producing more accountable governments. They are unlikely to accomplish government reform on their own, but they can help expose and reform democratic deficits and push governments toward broader democratic reforms.

Getting at the Live Archive: On Access to Information Research in Canada

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 623-633 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin Walby ◽  
Mike Larsen
Keyword(s):  
National Security ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
The Public ◽  
Official Discourse ◽  
Dirty Data ◽  
Information Research ◽  
Public Record ◽  
Constitutional Right

Most of the draft documents, memoranda, communications, and other textual materials amassed by government agencies do not become public record unless efforts are taken to obtain their release. One mechanism for doing so is “access to information” (ATI) or “freedom of information” (FOI) law. Individuals and organizations in Canada have a quasi-constitutional right to request information from federal, provincial, and municipal levels of government. A layer of bureaucracy has been created to handle these requests and manage the disclosure of information, with many organizations having special divisions, coordinators, and associated personnel for this purpose. The vast majority of public organizations are subject to the federal Access to Information Act (ATIA) or the provincial and municipal equivalents.We have been using ATI requests to get at spectrum of internal government texts. At one end of the spectrum, we are seeking what Gary Marx calls “dirty data” produced by policing, national security, and intelligence agencies. Dirty data represent “information which [are] kept secret and whose revelation would be discrediting or costly in terms of various types of sanctioning.” This material can take the form of the quintessential “smoking gun” document, or, more often, a seemingly innocuous trail of records that, upon analysis, can be illuminating. Dirty data are often kept from the public record. At the other end of the disclosure spectrum are those front-stage texts that represent “official discourse,” which are carefully crafted and released to the public according to government messaging campaigns.

scholarly journals KETERBUKAAN INFORMASI PUBLIK DALAM PEMERINTAHAN TERBUKA MENUJU TATA PEMERINTAHAN YANG BAIK

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 135
Author(s):  
Nunuk Febriananingsih
Keyword(s):  
Public Service ◽  
Government Regulation ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Human Right ◽  
The Public ◽  
Governmental Agencies ◽  
Access Information ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Government

<p>Kebebasan informasi merupakan hak asasi yang fundamental. Pengalaman selama ini menunjukkan bahwa informasi lembaga pemerintah dan non pemerintah dianggap sulit dijangkau masyarakat. Permasalahan yang diangkat dalam tulisan ini adalah bagaimana kesiapan lembaga-lembaga pemerintah dalam mengimplementasikan UU KIP dalam upaya mewujudkan tata pemerintahan yang baik. Dengan menggunakan metode penelitian hukum normatif diketahui bahwa Undang-Undang Nomor 14 Tahun 2008 tentang Keterbukaan Informasi Publik memberi jaminan kepada masyarakat untuk mengakses informasi dari badan publik, meskipun lembaga pemerintah belum siap mengimplementasikan UU KIP. Hal ini terlihat dari belum tersedianya informasi terkait dengan urusan tata kepemerintahan seperti kebijakan publik dan pelayanan publik. Untuk itu Pemerintah perlu segera mengimplementasikan UU KIP sesuai dengan yang diamanatkan oleh PP Nomor 61 Tahun 2010 tentang pelaksanaan UU KIP.</p><p>Freedom of information is a fundamental human right. Past experience shows that information and non-governmental agencies are considered hard to reach communities. Issues raised in this paper is how the readiness of government agencies in implementing the law is in an effort to realize good governance. By using the method of normative legal research note that the Act No. 14 of 2008 concerning Freedom of Information gives assurance to the public to access information from public bodies, although the government agency implementing the law is not yet ready. This is evident from the unavailability of information relating to the affairs of governance such as public policy and public service. For the Government should immediately implement in accordance with the law is mandated by the Government Regulation Number 61 Year 2010 concerning the implementation of the law is.</p>

Access to Information

2014 ◽  
pp. 126-144
Author(s):  
Monica Teresa Sousa ◽  
Leonardo Valles Bento
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Governmental Agencies ◽  
Private Interests ◽  
Information Law ◽  
Right To Information ◽  
The Right

Right to information means the right of citizens to have access to information produced by, or held by, public/governmental agencies. This chapter intends to analyze the legal grounds of the right to access to information in Brazil as compared to the best international practice. One of the main risks to good governance and democracy is the use of public resources for private purposes, and the development of new communication technologies, especially the Internet, has revolutionized the manner in which the public interacts with the information available, impacting democratic practices. In November 2011, the adoption of Federal Law 12,527 made Brazil the 89th country in the world, and the 19th in Latin America, to adopt specific legislation implementing the right to access to public information. In Brazil, public authorities, especially the courts, tend to accept easily the allegations of violation of privacy and defamation of those whose interests are harmed or threatened by the broadcasting of information. In the conflict between access to information and private interests, the latter has prevailed. In this context, the Access to Information Law has become a relevant policy to the Brazilian civil society to strengthen and consolidate a democratic political culture and promote institutional maturity.

Freedom of Information in the EU in the midst of Legal Rules, Jurisprudence and Ombudsprudence: the European Ombudsman as Developer of Norms of Good Administration

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (04) ◽  
pp. 641-672
Author(s):  
Dacian Dragos ◽  
Bogdana Neamtu
Keyword(s):  
Good Governance ◽  
Policy Instrument ◽  
Freedom Of Information ◽  
Free Access ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Legal Norms ◽  
Legal Rules ◽  
European Code ◽  
Individual Decisions ◽  
The Eu

European Ombudsman – Free access to information in the EU – Regulation No 1049/2001– Standard of assessment used by European Ombudsman – Legal norms versus norms of good administration and whether good administration can be understood outside legality – European Code of Good Administrative Behaviour and the rather ambiguous concept of maladministration – European Ombudsman as developer of norms of good administration in the area of free access to information – A rather limited role as developer of norms of good administration for the European Ombudsman in individual decisions – Role in ‘translating’ the case law into somewhat more accessible jargon and explaining how existing principles and norms of good governance apply to the circumstances of a specific case – Own inquiries as a policy instrument for advising EU institutions and agencies on how to deal with certain aspects pertaining to access to documents and transparency – Interesting interplay between European Ombudsman and the courts

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