Freedom of information legislation (also known in the U.S. as sunshine laws ) are rules that guarantee access to data held by the state. They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions. Also variously referred to as open records or (especially in the United States) sunshine laws, governments are also typically bound by a duty to publish and promote openness. In many countries there are constitutional guarantees for the right of access to information, but usually these are unused if specific legislation to support them does not exist.
Over 85 countries around the world have implemented some form of such legislation. Sweden's Freedom of the Press Act of 1766 is the oldest.
Other countries are working towards introducing such laws, and many regions of countries with national legislation have local laws. For example, all states of the United States have laws governing access to public documents of state and local taxing entities, in addition to that country's Freedom of Information Act which governs records management of documents in the possession of the federal government.
A related concept is open meetings legislation, which allows access to government meetings, not just to the records of them. In many countries, privacy or data protection laws may be part of the freedom of information legislation; the concepts are often closely tied together in political discourse.
A basic principle behind most freedom of information legislation is that the burden of proof falls on the body asked for information, not the person asking for it. The requester does not usually have to give an explanation for their request, but if the information is not disclosed a valid reason has to be given.
Some countries with existing legislation
Albania
In Albania, the constitution of 1998 guarantees the right of access to information; the legislation supporting this is the Ligji nr. 8503, date 30.6.1999, Per të drejten e informimit per dokumentat zyrtare ( Law no. 8503, dated June 30, 1999, On the right to information over the official documents ). This requires public authorities to grant any request for an official document.
Armenia
The Law on Freedom of Information was unanimously approved by the Parliament on 23 September 2003 and went into force in November 2003.
Australia
In Australia, the Freedom of Information Act 1982 was passed at the federal level in 1982, applying to all "ministers, departments and public authorities" of the Commonwealth.
There is similar legislation in all states and territories:
- Australian Capital Territory, the Freedom of Information Act 1989
- New South Wales, the Freedom of Information Act 1989
- Northern Territory, the Information Act 2003
- Queensland, the Freedom of Information Act 1992
- South Australia, the Freedom of Information Act 1991
- Tasmania, the Freedom of Information Act 1991
- Victoria, the Freedom of Information Act 1982
- Western Australia, the Freedom of Information Act 1992
Azerbaijan
In Azerbaijan, a freedom of information law was approved in 2005. It has gone into effect.
Bangladesh
On October 21, 2008, the Caretaker Government of Bangladesh issued in the Bangladesh Gazette the Right to Information Ordinance (No. 50 of 2008), based loosely on the Indian Right to Information Act, 2005. The Ordinance is in effect until approved or withdrawn by the next elected Parliament.
Belgium
Article 32 of the Constitution was amended in 1993 to include a right of access to documents held by the government.
Belize
In Belize, the Freedom of Information Act was passed in 2000 and is currently in force, though a governmental commission noted that "not much use has been made of the Act".
Bosnia and Herzegovina
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, Freedom of Access to Information Act was adopted by the Parliament Assembly of Bosnia and Herzegovina on 17 November 2000. Both federal entities - the Republika Srpska and the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina - passed freedom of information laws in 2001, the Freedom of Access to Information Act for the Republika Srpska and Freedom of Access to Information Act for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina respectively.
Brazil
In Brazil, the Article 5, XXXIII, of the Constitution sets that "everyone shall have the right to receive information of his own interest or of public interest from public entities, which shall be given within the time prescribed by law". Also, article 22 of the Federal law nº 8.159/1991 grants the right to "full access to public documents". There is not, however, any law specifying the manner and the timetable for the information to be given by the State.
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, the Access to Public Information Act was passed in 2000, following a 1996 recommendation from the Constitutional Court to implement such a law.
Canada
Main article: Freedom of information in CanadaIn Canada, the Access to Information Act allows citizens to demand records from federal bodies. The act came into force in 1983, under the Pierre Trudeau government, permitting Canadians to retrieve information from government files, establishing what information could be accessed, mandating timelines for response. This is enforced by the Information Commissioner of Canada.
There is also a complementary Privacy Act , introduced in 1983. The purpose of the Privacy Act is to extend the present laws of Canada that protect the privacy of individuals with respect to personal information about themselves held by a federal government institution and that provide individuals with a right of access to that information. It is a Crown copyright. Complaints for possible violations of the Act may be reported to the Privacy Commissioner of Canada.
Canadian access to information laws distinguish between access to records generally and access to records that contain personal information about the person making the request. Subject to exceptions, individuals have a right of access to records that contain their own personal information under the Privacy Act but the general public does not have a right of access to records that contain personal information about others under the Access to Information Act.
Each province and territory in Canada has its own access to information legislation. in many cases, this is also the provincial public sector privacy legislation. For example:
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Alberta)
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Manitoba)
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Nova Scotia)
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Ontario)
- Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (Saskatchewan)
- Act respecting access to documents held by public bodies and the protection of personal information (Quebec)
From 1989 to 2008, requests made to the federal government were catalogued in the Coordination of Access to Information Requests System.
A 393 page report released in September 2008, sponsored by several Canadian newspaper groups, compares Canada’s Access to Information Act to the FOI laws of the provinces and of 68 other nations:Fallen Behind: Canada’s Access to Information Act in the World Context.
In 2009, The Walrus (magazine) published a detailed history of FOI in Canada.
Cayman
The Freedom of Information Law was passed in 2007 and will be brought into force in January 2009.
Chile
In Chile, article 8 of the Constitution provides for the freedom of information. A law titled Law on Access to Public Information ( Ley de Acceso a la Información Pública ) took effect on April 20, 2009. (See Law 20,285, in Spanish.)
People's Republic of China
In April 2007, the State Council of the People's Republic of China promulgated the "Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Open Government Information" (中华人民共和国政府信息公开条例), which came into effect on May 1, 2008.
Colombia
Colombian constitution grants the right of access to public information through Law 57 of 1985 which thereby mandates the publishing of acts and official documents. This is implemented and applies to documents that belong to official facilities (offices or the like). Additionally there is the anti corruption statement of Law 190 of 1955 also known as anticorruption act which in its 51st article mandates public offices to list in visible area all the contracts and purchases made by month. The latter taking place slowly.
Cook Islands
Access to official information is governed by the Official Information Act 2008. The law is based heavily on the New Zealand l
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