Instruct: Given a question, retrieve relevant passages that answer the question.
Query: When was the Freedom of Information Act first put into effect?
The Freedom of Information Act was initially introduced as the bill S. 1160 in the 89th Congress. When the two-page bill was signed into law it became Pub.L., 80Stat., enacted July4, 1966, but had an effective date of one year after the date of enactment, or July 4, 1967. The law set up the structure of FOIA as we know it today.
With the enactment of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, Brooke began work on a book explaining how to use the law, which was not scheduled to come into effect for another five years. Originally titled "Your Right to Know: How to Use the Freedom of Information Act and Other Access Laws", the book was reissued in October 2004 as "Your Right to Know: A Citizen's Guide to Freedom of Information", with a foreword by Alan Rusbridger, editor of "The Guardian". In October 2006 it was revised and published in paperback and hardcover editions that included a foreword by satirist Ian Hislop.
The Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2013 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament relating to freedom of information requests in Scotland. It amends the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002,
The federal government's Freedom of Information Act should not be confused with the different and varying freedom of information law enacted by the individual states.
The Promotion of Access to Information Act, 2000 (or PAIA; Act No. 2 of 2000) is a freedom of information law in South Africa. It gives effect to the constitutional right of access to any information held by the State, and any information held by private bodies that is required for the exercise and protection of any rights.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (2000 c. 36) is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level, with the exception of Scottish bodies, which are covered by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (2002 asp. 13). Environmental information is covered by further legislation Environmental Information Regulations 2004. Tony Blair, the UK Prime Minister who introduced the Freedom of Information Act, later expressed regret over the Act, claiming that the Act impeded the ability of officials to deliberate "with a reasonable level of confidentiality".
The Act on Disclosure of Information by Public Agencies was enacted in 1996 and went into effect in January 1998. It allows citizens to demand information held by public agencies.
The first Australian Privacy Commissioner was appointed in 1989 to the former Office of the Privacy Commissioner, which was the national privacy regulatory body until 2010. Major changes to federal freedom of information (FOI) law made in 2010 established the present office as the body responsible for FOI, privacy, and information policy. The "Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010" was passed in May 2010, and came into effect from November 2010. This Act introduced fundamental changes to the way information held by government is managed and accessed by members of the public (see Freedom of Information).
The FOI Ordinance of 2004 laid the basis for the following two provincial laws: The Baluchistan Freedom of Information Act in 2005 and Sindh Freedom of Information Act in 2006. In addition, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Right to Information Act (KPK RTI) and the Punjab Transparency and Right to Information Ordinance were both passed in 2013. The KPK RTI Act covers not only official governmental bodies, but also non-governmental entities that are funded by the government (for example, locally funded public service organizations). The Punjab RTI Act can be used not only by the citizens of Pakistan, but also by legal bodies that are registered within Pakistan territorial borders.
In 1999 Trinidad and Tobago introduced the Freedom of Information Act to open the records of Government to the citizens. Maharaj was a “citizen trailblazer” in pioneering the use of the Freedom of Information Act in requesting information from the State. In several instances State agencies and Government Ministries refused to provide Maharaj the information requested citing various reasons. Maharaj as a result sought Judicial Review on the state’s decision not to provide the information. In all instances Maharaj’s legal challenge was successful. The successful use of the Freedom of Information Act by Maharaj has resulted in several forms of administrative reactions by the State including making the Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago exempt from the Freedom of Information Act with retroactive legislation. Maharaj’s attorney in all of his legal challenges was Constitutional Rights attorney at law Anand Ramlogan. In several cases Ramlogan was led by former Attorney General of Guyana Sir Fenton Ramsahoye.
The right to freedom of speech is not explicitly protected by common law in New Zealand, but is encompassed in a wide range of doctrines aimed at protecting free speech. An independent press, an effective judiciary, and a functioning democratic political system combine to ensure freedom of speech and of the press. In particular, freedom of expression is preserved in section 14 of the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, which states that:"Everyone has the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and opinions of any kind in any form."This provision reflects the more detailed one in Article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The significance of this right and its importance to democracy has been emphasised by the New Zealand courts. It has been described as the primary right without which the rule of law cannot effectively operate. The right is not only the cornerstone of democracy; it also guarantees the self-fulfilment of its members by advancing knowledge and revealing truth. As such, the right has been given a wide interpretation. The Court of Appeal has said that section 14 is “as wide as human thought and imagination”. Freedom of expression embraces free speech, a free press, transmission and receipt of ideas and information, freedom of expression in art, and the right to silence. The right to freedom of expression also extends to the right to seek access to official records. This is provided for in the Official Information Act 1982.
The act creates a general right of access, on request, to information held by public authorities. On receipt of a freedom of information claim a public authority has two corresponding duties. First, a duty to inform a member of the public whether or not it holds the information requested (s1(1)(a)), and second, if it does hold that information, to communicate it to the person making that request (s1(1)(b)). As the corollary to this, the Act thus grants the equivalent rights to a confirmation or denial and communication of relevant information to an individual making a request under the act. The basic duty is supplemented by an additional duty to aid individuals in making requests and ensuring that they frame their FOI requests appropriately. (s.16(1))
Freedom of information is an extension of freedom of speech where the medium of expression is the Internet. Freedom of information may also refer to the right to privacy in the context of the Internet and information technology. As with the right to freedom of expression, the right to privacy is a recognised human right and freedom of information acts as an extension to this right. Freedom of information may also concern censorship in an information technology context, i.e. the ability to access Web content, without censorship or restrictions.
Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, RSA 2000, c F-25 (FOIP Act) is the freedom of information and privacy act for Alberta, Canada. It was passed by the Alberta legislature in June 1994 and came into force on October 1, 1995.
The resulting Act came into effect on January 1, 1988.
The Kenyan government, however, did not intend to staunchly adhere to these new mandates of the constitution. As recently as 2013, Kenyan policymakers amended previous laws to limit certain media coverage of terrorist attacks and attempted to suppress the reporting of the deteriorating safety in Kenya. The amendment to the Kenya Information and Communication Act works to stifle efforts of publications that put forth critical perspectives of the Kenyan government. Although there have been some governmental efforts to enhance the press freedoms of Kenyan citizens, such as The Media Council Bill of 2013 which created a governmental body that would promote and protect the freedom of the media, the enforcement of the act did more harm than good in promoting press freedoms. According to an independent study conducted by Freedom House, Kenya's press rights are considered to be somewhat comprehensive. The press is only considered "partly free" largely because of the governmental efforts to enact laws that grant more control over media and publications. Moreover, previous laws, such as the Preservation of Public Security Act, which give the government the right to declare any information to be a security threat and censor that information, are still in effect and have yet to be repealed or amended.
That law was initially repealed. During the period between the enactment of the act and its effective date, Title 5 of the United States Code was enacted into positive law.[14] For reasons now unclear but which may have had to do with the way the enactment of Title 5 changed how the law being amended was supposed to be cited, the original Freedom of Information Act was replaced. A new act in Pub.L., 81Stat., enacted June5, 1967 (originally H.R. 5357 in the 90th Congress), repealed the original and put in its place a substantively identical law. This statute was signed on June 5, 1967, and had the same effective date as the original statute: July 4, 1967.
The Freedom of Information Amendment (Reform) Act 2010 was passed in May 2010, and came into effect in November 2010. The changes were largely targeted at reducing the cost of the FOI applications, which had been criticized by journalists as "prohibitively costly" (Ricketson and Snell, 2002).
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13) was an Act of the Scottish Parliament passed in 2002. It covers public bodies over which the Scottish Parliament has jurisdiction, fulfilling a similar purpose to the UK-level Freedom of Information Act 2000. It, too, came into force at the beginning of 2005.
The Office of the Information Commissioner () was set up under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act, 1997, which came into effect in April 1998. The Information Commissioner may conduct reviews of the decisions of public bodies in relation to requests for access to information. In Ireland, the Information Commissioner also holds the position of Ombudsman. The first holder of the office was Kevin Murphy. In March 2003, the Government of Ireland nominated Emily O'Reilly to be Information Commissioner (and Ombudsman). In December 2013, Peter Tyndall was appointed as her replacement.
In the United States the Freedom of Information Act was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966 and went into effect the following year. Ralph Nader has been credited with the impetus for creating this act, among others. The Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments were signed by President Bill Clinton on October 2, 1996.
In the United Kingdom, the Information Commissioner's Office is responsible for regulating compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998, Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 is the responsibility of the Scottish Information Commissioner.
The coverage of the Environmental Information Regulations is greater than that of the Freedom of Information Act 2000, although there are bodies such as the BBC which are covered by the Freedom of Information Act but not by the EIR. The Freedom of Information Act sets out a list of the bodies and classes of bodies that are public authorities, the EIR is less prescriptive.
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c.36) is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level. Its application is limited in Scotland (which has its own freedom of information legislation) to UK Government offices geo-located in Scotland. The Act implements a manifesto commitment of the Labour Party in the 1997 general election, developed by Dr David Clark as a 1997 White Paper. The final version of the Act is believed to have been diluted from that proposed while Labour was in opposition. The full provisions of the act came into force on 1 January 2005.
In Ireland the Freedom of Information Act 1997 came into effect in April, 1998. This provided for members of the public to access information specifically about themselves, amend incorrect information, and request an explanation behind administrative decisions concerning themselves, as well as allowing any person to access records generated by a list of specified public bodies. The Act is seen as having led to a sea-change in the relationship between the citizen, journalists, government departments and public bodies. Disclosure is the default assumption of the Act; bodies can withhold information only by citing exemptions specified in the legislation. Decisions of public bodies in relation to requests for information may be reviewed by the Information Commissioner.