The Freedom of Information Act 2000 - Case Study Example

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 The Freedom of Information Act 2000 manifests the execution of the public's right to information on matters of public concern in the United Kingdom. It lays down the concrete basis for the exercise of the right to access public information. Under the Act, any person, whether individual or juridical entity, may gain access to information or data held by government authorities, by filing a written request to the office or official concerned. The latter in turn have twenty (20) working days within which to grant or deny the same. This 20-day deadline may be extended in some instances, or upon conformity with the requesting party. The public authorities, in this respect, are encouraged to confer personally with the requesting parties so that the former will understand more the kind of information that the requesting party seeks to know. However, not all information may be divulged by the public authorities. Those relating to matters of national security for example, cannot be given, as well as those which can be properly classified as secret information even of foreign governments or international organizations. Prohibition in these areas is considered absolute and no amount of reconsideration may reverse the same. Other areas on the other hand are exempted, subject to some qualifications. In these aspects, the public authority concerned have to decide where public interest would be subserved more: in maintaining the exemption or not. In case a request in denied, the requesting party may ask for a reconsideration from the Information Commissioner who has the power to reverse the decision of the public authority who previously denied the request. This decision however may still be appealed to the Information Tribunal, a special tribunal especially created for the same. In relation thereto, the Government per se may interfere and override the decisions of the public authority, Information Commissioner and Information Tribunal. This provision in the Act provides for a leeway to the Government to interfere directly with the implementation of the Act and the exercise of the public's right to information. Intimately, the very essence of the Official Secrets Act is maintained. As it is, although the public has the constitutional right to access public information, it is not absolute. In short, every right has its own limitations. The national interest cannot be bargained away in exchange for the public's right to know. The Information Act 2000 recognizes this inherent right of every state, the government in particular, to maintain some qualified information which may prove detrimental to the national interest. The public's right to know, although recognized, is inferior to the national interest, and cannot be placed above and beyond the so-called national interest since the latter affects the country as a whole. Another important consideration is the prohibition on request for personal information, despite the fact that some of them are being kept and recorded by an agency of the government. Since this involves not just public information but mainly personal data of the state's constituents, requests for this kind of information are properly covered by the Data Protection Act 1998. Personal right of individuals and entities are considered beyond the ambit of the state's disposition. The Information Act 2000 also safeguards the basic right of the state and of the constituents against undue investigation and prosecution brought about by the information that could be accessed from the public authorities through the exercise of the rights under the Act. It provides that the requesting party must state with certainty the information it seeks to know. The requesting party is not allowed to ask for general information about a particular topic or person, nor ask a generalized question that could otherwise lead to exposure of substantially all information about such topic or person. To allow otherwise would then sanction the so-called fishing expedition, a process that is entirely prohibited in any and all jurisdictions as it violates the basic rights of an individual or entity to be secured of their confidential information. The Information Act 2000 cannot be used as an instrument to intrude into the confidentially of certain areas that might lead to exposure of incrimination information which might be used later as evidence to prosecute persons, entities, or government institutions. The Act however does not entirely prohibit access to those incriminating information. It only requires the requesting party to give a specific lead, or provide a particular question on the subject as if the requesting party ahs already the information it seeks and what remains in his inquiry is the purpose of validating or confirming the details he has at present. On the other hand, the Information Act 2000 does not entirely lead against requesting party. As a rule, whoever the requesting party is, the public authority being requesting of an information should not and cannot require or demand of an explanation why such kind of information is being requested. Public information may in fact be requested for absolutely no reason at all. Requests for information concerning the environment, although public in nature, are however considered beyond the coverage of the Act. Instead, they are said to be properly lodged in the Environment Information Regulations 2004 which, although possessing some similarity to the Act, still differs in some aspects. Another important feature of the Act is the prohibition against interference by third parties in the disposition of requests for information. The grant or denial of such requests is placed entirely on the discretion of the state, whether thru the public authority concerned, the Information Commissioner, Information Tribunal, or the Government itself. The Act considers that once the state take possession of the information, personal confidentiality over the information by the individual or entity ceases. As it is, the state may now dispose or keep it in secret, as its discretion. All that remains is the weighing of the interest involved: whether public interest would be subserved more in granting or denying the request. Such exercise of discretion is now beyond the questioning of anybody as it is an exercise of the sovereign power of the state which is inherent in nature. It cannot be suspended, much less held off, on the simple expediency of a private person or entity. Summarily, the Information Act 2000 merely institutionalizes an otherwise already existing right of the constituents to access public information. It merely lays down in particular the limitations which are actually predictable in the first place as they are always bound by the general right of every state to control leakage of information. WEB SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Official_Secrets_Act. Retrieved 18 May 2006. Read More