Britons had their first opportunity to test the country's new Freedom of Information Act yesterday, when the nation goes to work after an extended New Year holiday.
But the government was already making clear that there were limits to its new openness, insisting in particular that it would not release the attorney-general's advice on the legality of the Iraq war.
"Whether or not information is disclosed depends on the Act, but every government needs space to take advice. I don't think any government with an [freedom of information] Act such as this would act on any other basis," Lord Falconer, the lord chancellor, or chief legal officer, said on Monday.
Opposition parties and opponents of the Iraq war have sought in vain to obtain a copy of the advice of the attorney-general, Lord Goldsmith, which underpinned British Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to join the US-led invasion.
Under the Act, every government department must declare what information will be routinely available, how to get it and whether there will be a charge for access. The effective date varies from department to department.
Every public authority now must comply with requests for information it holds unless that information is specifically exempted from disclosure. In general, public agencies are to respond to requests within 20 working days.
Falconer said the government was not being selective in the information it releases, insisting that any request it refuses can be appealed to an independent tribunal.
A Cabinet minister might veto release from his or her department, but only with the support of the full Cabinet.
A Freedom of Information Act was first promised by the Labour Party in its 1974 election manifesto. Blair's government secured passage of the legislation in 2000.
The Act is supervised by Information Commissioner Richard Thomas. He can reject departmental plans on information release and, in some cases, can order a department to release information that it has withheld.
The Act is expected to lead to the release of Foreign Office files on the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) between 1870 and 1939.
The government has also indicated it will release notes by Cabinet secretaries of Cabinet meetings back to 1942, which are more thorough than the official minutes.
Some 50,000 government files were being released to the National Archives yesterday, all of them sooner than the past British practice of keeping many documents secret for 30 years.
Among the records were National Coal Board Files from the time of the coalminers' strike of 1984 and 1985, and a titanic collision between organized labor and former prime minister Margaret Thatcher's government.
In an interview published on Sunday in the Observer newspaper, Thomas said he expected the Act would lead to the public release of information on the performance of National Health Service physicians and surgeons.
Falconer caused some consternation in editors' offices last month when he announced that any information released to a media organization under the Act would immediately be published on a Web site.
The Guardian newspaper, which is using the Act to request the attorney-general's advice on Iraq, protested in an editorial that immediate publication on a Web site would cripple the incentive for reporters to take advantage of the Act.
LANDMARK CASE: ‘Every night we were dragged to US soldiers and sexually abused. Every week we were forced to undergo venereal disease tests,’ a victim said More than 100 South Korean women who were forced to work as prostitutes for US soldiers stationed in the country have filed a landmark lawsuit accusing Washington of abuse, their lawyers said yesterday. Historians and activists say tens of thousands of South Korean women worked for state-sanctioned brothels from the 1950s to 1980s, serving US troops stationed in country to protect the South from North Korea. In 2022, South Korea’s top court ruled that the government had illegally “established, managed and operated” such brothels for the US military, ordering it to pay about 120 plaintiffs compensation. Last week, 117 victims
China on Monday announced its first ever sanctions against an individual Japanese lawmaker, targeting China-born Hei Seki for “spreading fallacies” on issues such as Taiwan, Hong Kong and disputed islands, prompting a protest from Tokyo. Beijing has an ongoing spat with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea claimed by both countries, and considers foreign criticism on sensitive political topics to be acts of interference. Seki, a naturalised Japanese citizen, “spread false information, colluded with Japanese anti-China forces, and wantonly attacked and smeared China”, foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian told reporters on Monday. “For his own selfish interests, (Seki)
Argentine President Javier Milei on Sunday vowed to “accelerate” his libertarian reforms after a crushing defeat in Buenos Aires provincial elections. The 54-year-old economist has slashed public spending, dismissed tens of thousands of public employees and led a major deregulation drive since taking office in December 2023. He acknowledged his party’s “clear defeat” by the center-left Peronist movement in the elections to the legislature of Buenos Aires province, the country’s economic powerhouse. A deflated-sounding Milei admitted to unspecified “mistakes” which he vowed to “correct,” but said he would not be swayed “one millimeter” from his reform agenda. “We will deepen and accelerate it,” he
Japan yesterday heralded the coming-of-age of Japanese Prince Hisahito with an elaborate ceremony at the Imperial Palace, where a succession crisis is brewing. The nephew of Japanese Emperor Naruhito, Hisahito received a black silk-and-lacquer crown at the ceremony, which marks the beginning of his royal adult life. “Thank you very much for bestowing the crown today at the coming-of-age ceremony,” Hisahito said. “I will fulfill my duties, being aware of my responsibilities as an adult member of the imperial family.” Although the emperor has a daughter — Princess Aiko — the 23-year-old has been sidelined by the royal family’s male-only
RSS