Freedom of Information: The Law, the Practice and the Ideal / Edition 4

by Patrick Birkinshaw

Overview

Enacted in 2000 and in operation in the UK since 2005, the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act has revealed information which has generated calls for constitutional reform. A massive 'information jurisprudence' has developed through the decisions of the Information Commissioner, the Information Tribunal and the courts. Governments' responses to the war on terror have involved increased resort to claims of national security and accompanying secrecy, but these developments have to exist alongside demands for FOI and transparency. FOI has to balance access to and protection of personal information, and major amendments have been made to the Data Protection Act in order to balance the competing demands of transparency and privacy. This detailed discussion of FOI laws and personal data laws examines the historical development of secrecy, national security and government, and their modern context.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521716086
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/01/2010
Series:	Law in Context
Edition description:	Fourth Edition
Pages:	578
Product dimensions:	6.80(w) x 9.60(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Patrick Birkinshaw is an experienced and widely published public lawyer. He is also Director of the Institute of European Public Law at the University of Hull.

Table of Contents

1. Persistent themes and novel problems; 2. National security; 3. Government and information; 4. The Freedom of Information Act 2000; 5. The exemptions; 6. Decision notices and appeals; 7. The environmental information regulations; 8. Privacy, access and data protection; 9. Claims and counter claims; 10. Secrecy and access in the European Union; 11. Openness, information and the courts; 12. Freedom of information: overseas experience; 13. Conclusion.