A growing number of countries are adopting freedom of information (FOI) acts, or are considering doing so in the future. In some cases, countries have rights to FOI built into their constitution or they are conferred through judicial decisions.
This Privacy International paper is a reference resource for FOI around the world. It reviews FOI laws in 2000 in countries that already have them in place or are working towards doing so. It also looks at 53 countries alphabetically, from Argentina to the United States, and outlines their legal provisions for FOI and any updates that have occurred since these provisions were put into place. These range from explicit constitutional rights to FOI, judicial rulings, or FOI acts, privacy acts and other relevant laws. It also details the institutional bodies entrusted with administering these laws and dealing with requests for information or complaints, where appropriate.
2000 was a good year for FOI: Nearly 40 countries had FOI laws and many more were in the process of adopting them. Highlights were:
- South Africa was the first African country to adopt an FOI law. An FOI act was also introduced into the Nigerian House of Representatives and in Kenya a campaign was launched to adopt FOI law and a draft proposal was issued
- Draft bills were developed and released in Bosnia and Herzegovina, (which included a ‘public interest test’), Poland, Indonesia and Nepal
- A number of countries in Latin America, including Argentina, Brazil, Colombia and Peru, have a constitutional right (habeas data) to FOI, and also various FOI laws. These laws, however, are being introduced more slowly than in other regions
- A number of Asian countries also have FOI laws, including the Philippines, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and Japan. In the Middle East, Israel’s Freedom of Information Law has been used effectively
- Countries with FOI laws in Europe were: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldavia, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Ukraine, the UK and Russia. Germany and Luxembourg did not
- There were other progressive initiatives: Some countries in Europe, including Denmark, were making efforts to replace laws with EU directives, and the US adopted an Electronic Freedom of Information Act.
However, many countries had problems relating to the implementation and functioning of FOI laws. Other problems stemmed from a lack of political will and transparency of government. Problems to watch out for are:
- Bureaucratic constraints: The US had problems relating to citizens obtaining information, and Hong Kong had problems with its complaints procedure
- Enforcement problems: Colombia has been criticised for not enforcing its FOI laws
- A lack of knowledge of rights by citizens and lack of understanding of the law by officials and agencies: This occurred in Thailand
- Monetary constraints: Budget cuts in Australia have made the implementation of their FOI act less effective
- A lack of commitment to FOI: The UK’s 2000 FOI act was weaker than its previous code of practice. Pakistan and India’s draft FOI acts have also been criticised: The former for a lack of commitment to FOI and the later for providing limited access to government records
- Formal limitations: Austria does not allow citizens to access documents themselves, only to receive answers on their content. The European Union’s proposed FOI legislation has been criticised for limiting access, and in the Ukraine there is a tendency for the executive to limit the right of access given in the constitution.
