Recommendations on DG Trade Vademecum submitted to EU Access Info Europe and Corporate Europe Observatory on 6 April 2010 submitted a new round of comments to the EU’s Directorate General for Trade on its internal guidelines for access to documents, the controversial “Vademecum” first leaked to the public in March 2009 and revised by DG Trade in June 2009 following a strong reaction by the public.
The Coalición Pro Acceso puts transparency to the test Madrid, 5 April 2010 – In order to address the lack of transparency of Spanish public bodies and the lack of an access to information law, the Coalicion Pro Acceso today launched the “100 Question Campaign”. The goal it to demonstrate the need to for greater openness of the Spanish Administration.
Reform of the European Court of Human Rights Access Info has joined human rights groups from around Europe in calling for the European Court of Human Rights to be given the resources needed to function properly, but not at the expense of other Council of Europe human rights mechanisms. This campaign is in response to planned reforms of the European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg and representing 47 European member states and 800 million individuals. In more than 80% of rulings, states are found to have violated human rights. A letter signed by 150 organisations, calls for a
OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA What is Open Government Data? Open government data is about getting access to information held by government bodies formats that anyone can use for any purpose. Read more... Read the Beyond Access Report to know more about the relation between the right of access to information and the Open Government Data.
Summary: One Year Waiting for the Information Commissioner's Ruling Request sent to High Commercial Court Ministry of Justice Croatian Chamber of Commerce Outcome of request High Commercial Court: Referral to Ministry of Justice Ministry of Justice: Refused, but PENDING OUTCOME OF APPEAL TO INFORMATION COMMISSIONER Croatian Chamber of Commerce: Refused, but PENDING OUTCOME OF APPEAL TO INFORMATION COMMISSIONER Time taken to respond High Commercial Court: 10 days (deadline is 15 working days) Ministry of Justice: 9 days (deadline is 15 working days) Croatian Chamber of Commerce: 9 days (deadline is 15 working days) Reason for refusal Ministry of Justice: Another
Summary:The Freedom of Information Law Does Not Apply Request sent to State Registration Service (Click here) Outcome of request Information Refused Time taken to respond 5 working days (Deadline is 5 working days) Reason for refusal Another law overrides FOI law. The initial request for a copy of the full database of registered companies was sent by Access Info's partner, Anna Babinec, on 30 July 2013 in Ukrainian to the State Registration Service of Ukraine. Legally, Ukraine is bound to answer access to information requests within 5 working days. On 6 August 2013, we received a negative response from the
Summary: Information Commissioner Rules That Specific Company Register Law Trumps Access to Information Law Request sent to Business and Enterprise Register (BER) Outcome of request Information refused Time taken to respond 6 working days (Deadline is 20 working days) Reason for refusal Another law overrides FOI law Only need to answer requests for individual records. Personal privacy. On 20 August 2013, Access Info sent a request to the Business and Enterprise Register, asking for access to a full copy of the Swiss company register database. The Swiss access to information law establishes a 20 working-day deadline for the public
Summary: You Need to Pay For the Information and State What You Plan to Do With the Personal Data in the Register Request sent to Swedish Companies Registration Office Trade and Industry Register Outcome of request Information refused Time taken to respond 1 working day (Deadline is “immediately”) Reason for refusal Must pay for access. Personal privacy. On 4 November 2013, the initial request was sent in English to the Swedish Companies Registration Office. Legally, Sweden is bound to answer immediately under its access to information law. Only one day later, the Swedish Registration Office responded, asking us to
Summary: Information Commissioner Rules that Business Register Was Right to Refuse Access Because the Data Was Already Available Online Request sent to Serbian Business Registers Agency (SBRA) (Click here) Outcome of request Information refused Time taken to respond 46 working days (deadline is 15 working days) Reason for refusal Database not a document. No need to answer if info is already online. FOI exceptions applied to registers. Personal privacy. The initial request was sent to the Agency for Business Registry in Serbia by Access Info's partner, Vlad Kostic, on 1 October 2013. The request asked for a full copy
Summary: It Is "Technically Impossible" to Provide Access to the Full Database Request sent to Federal Tax Service (Click here) Outcome of request Information Refused Time taken to respond 40 working days (Deadline is 30 calendar days) Reason for refusal Another law overrides FOI law. Technically impossible to fulfill. The initial request was sent in Russian to the Federal Tax Service on 5 August 2013 by our partner Alec Luhn, a Russian journalist. Legally, Russia is bound to answer access to information requests within 30 working days. However, since no response was received before the deadline, Access Info had
