1.6

CADA’s decisions are not binding so if an agency continues to deny access, further appeal
can be made to an administrative court. CADA issued 333 opinions in 2000.

1.6.34. Romania

Article 31 guarantees the right of the public to access information of a public interest:

A person’s right of access to any information of public interest cannot be restricted. The
public authorities, according to their competence, shall be bound to provide for correct
information to citizens on public affairs and matters of personal interest.

The Law Regarding Free Access to Information of Public Interest was approved in October
2001.135 The implementing regulations of the law state that “free and unrestrained access to
information of public interest shall be the rule and limitation of access shall be the
exemption.”136 It allows for any person to ask for information from public authorities and
state companies. The authorities must respond in 10 days.

There are exemptions for national security, public safety and public order, deliberations of
authorities, commercial or financial interests, personal information, proceedings during
criminal or disciplinary investigations, judicial proceedings, and information “prejudicial to
the measures of protecting the youth.” Authorities must publish a wide variety of basic
information about their structures and activities.

Those denied can appeal to the agency concerned or to a court. Public employees can be
disciplined for refusing to disclose information. The law was developed in cooperation
between the Ministry of Information, civil society organizations and opposition parties. The
government is working in cooperation with civil society groups to train staff and create local

135 The Law Regarding the Free Access to the Information of Public Interest,
http://www.publicinfo.ro/INITIAT/Legea%20accesului%20engl.pdf
136 DECISION on Methodological Norms of Putting into Force Law No. 544/2001 on Free Access to
Information of Public Interest
http://www.publicinfo.ro/INITIAT/NormeMetodologiceLegaLiberAccesInformatie-engl.pdf

offices to implement and monitor the law.137 Agencies are required to set up specialized
divisions to deal with the act.

The 1999 Law on the Access to the Personal File and the Disclosure of the Securitate as a
Political Police allows Romanian citizens to access their Securitate (secret police) files. It
also allows public access to the files of those aspiring for public office.138 The law set up the
National Council for the Search of Security Archives (CNSAS) to administer the archives.139
The Law on Protecting Classified Information was enacted in April 2002 at the behest of
NATO. The drafters used an expansive view of classification that will limit access to records
under the access to information law. Employees are now being vetted and those who spied
under the communist regime will be denied access.140

A bill on decisional transparency within central and local public administration authorities
and other legal persons that use public financial resources is currently being reviewed.141

1.6.35. Slovakia

The 1992 Constitution provides for a general right of access to information and a specific
right of access to environmental information:142

“Article 26

(1) The freedom of speech and the right to information are guaranteed.

137 Ministry of Information Homepage: http://www.publicinfo.ro/ENGLEZA.html
138 LAW No. 189/7 December 1999 on the access to the personal file and the disclosure of the Securitate as a
political police. http://www.cnsas.ro/legeng.htm
139 Homepage: http://www.cnsas.ro/indexeng.html
140 RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 6, No. 90, Part II, 15 May 2002
141 BILL on Decisional Transparency in Public Administration, http://www.publicinfo.ro/lNITIAT/ENGL-
Proiect%20Transparenta.pdf
142 Constitution of the Slovak Republic 1992, http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/lo00000-.html

(2) Everyone has the right to express his views in word, writing, print, picture, or other
means as well as the right to freely seek out, receive, and spread ideas and information
without regard for state borders...

(3) The freedom of speech and the right to seek out and spread information can be
restricted by law if such a measure is unavoidable in a democratic society to protect
the rights and liberties of others, state security, public order, or public health and
morality.

(4) State bodies and territorial self-administration bodies are under an obligation to
provide information on their activities in an appropriate manner and in the state
language. The conditions and manner of execution will be specified by law.”

“Article 45

Everyone has the right to timely and complete information about the state of the
environment and the causes and consequences of its condition.”

The Act on Free Access to Information was approved in May 2000 and became effective on
January 1, 2001.143 Any person or organization can demand information held by state
agencies, municipalities and private organizations that are making public decisions. The
body must respond no later than 10 days after receipt of the request and must keep a registry
of requests. Costs are limited to reproduction and can be waived. There are separate
requirements for disclosure of environmental information and these also cover private
organizations.

There are limitations for information that is classified as a state or professional secret,
personal information, trade secrets (not including environmental pollution, cultural sites or
anything related to public funds), information that was obtained “from a person not required
by law to provide information” and who declines to release it, intellectual property, and

143 Act on Free Access to Information, http://info211.host.sk/zakon-en.php

information on the decision-making power of the courts, law-enforcement bodies and
habitat.

Appeals are made to higher agencies and can be reviewed by a court. A public official
violating the Act can be fined SK50,000.

1.6.36. South Africa

Section 32 of the South African Constitution of 1996 states:

“(1) Everyone has the right of access to – (a) any information held by the state, and; (b) any
information that is held by another person and that is required for the exercise or protection
of any rights; (2) National legislation must be enacted to give effect to this right, and may
provide for reasonable measures to alleviate the administrative and financial burden on the
state.”144

The Promotion on Access to Information Act (POTIA) was approved by Parliament in
February 2000 and went into effect in March 2001.145 It implements the constitutional right
of access to records held by the government. The Act also has a unique provision that allows
individuals and government bodies to access records held by private bodies when it is
necessary to enforce people’s rights. This relates specifically to information on matters that
would cause public harm if the information were kept secret, such as environmental hazards.
State bodies currently have 60 days to respond to requests, but this period will be reduced to
30 days after March 2002.

The Act does not apply to records of the Cabinet and its committees, judicial functions of
courts and tribunals, and individual members of Parliament and provincial legislatures.
There are a number of mandatory and discretionary exemptions for records. Most of the
exemptions require some demonstration that release of the information would cause harm.

144The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa, Act 108 of 1996,
http://www.polity.org.za/govdocs/constitution/saconst.html.
145 Promotion of Access to Information Act, Act 2 of 2000, http://www.gov.za/gazette/acts/2000/a2-00.pdf

The exemptions include personal privacy, commercial information, confidential information,
safety of persons and property, law-enforcement proceedings, legal privilege, defense,
security and international relations, economic interests, and the internal operations of public
bodies. Many of the exemptions must be balanced against a public-interest test that requires
disclosure if the information showed a serious contravention or failure to comply with the
law or an imminent and serious public safety or environmental risk.

Appeals must be made initially to the agency concerned and can then be reviewed by a
general court. The courts can review any record and can set aside decisions and order the
agency to act. There are criminal fines and jail terms for those who destroy, damage, alter or
falsify records.

The Human Rights Commission is designated to oversee the functioning of the Act. It is
required under the law to issue a guide on the Act and submit reports to Parliament. It can
also promote the Act, make recommendations, and monitor its implementation. However,
the Commission has not received funding for any activities. In a 2001 Annual Report, the
Commission noted that lack of funds prevented it from conducting any work on the Act. It
said the body was cited by a court for its failure to issue a guide on the law. The expert
committee that drafted the Act proposed creating an Open Democracy Commission and
specialized information courts, but those sections were removed by the Cabinet before the
draft bill was introduced in Parliament.

There had been problems in the implementation of the Act and its use has been limited. The
South African History Archive found:

“The Act can be implemented effectively only if the government has adequate resources and
a sound record-keeping system.

Some government departments lack the capacity to effectively implement the Act.

The long time it takes to process information requests poses a severe impediment to the
media and others who require a quick response.

The law is not clear on what sanctions can be imposed on state bodies that fail to meet their
statutory obligations in terms of the time frames prescribed for responding to requests.

Areas of uncertainty in the Act require clarification.

The manual which each body subject to the Act is required to publish is of crucial
importance. This requirement has not yet come into operation. When it does, it is essential
that the regulations require a comprehensive and meaningful disclosure of record-keeping
systems.”146

It was reported that the apartheid-era security police maintained 314,000 files on individuals
and 9,400 on organizations.147 Many documents were reported destroyed in 1993 by military
intelligence.

1.6.37. Spain

Article 105 of the Constitution states:

“The law shall regulate...b) access by the citizens to the administrative archives and registers
except where it affects the security and defense of the State, the investigation of crimes, and
the privacy of persons.”148

The law signed in 1992 provides for access to government records and documents by
Spanish citizens.149 The documents must be part of a file which has been completed.
Agencies must respond in three months.

146 SAHA, February 2002 Update. http://www.privacyinternational.org/countries/south-africa/saha-review-
202.htm
147 Gavin Evans, South Africa: Home truths, The Independent, October 31, 1998.
148 Constitution of Spain, 1992, http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/sp00000-.html

Documents can be withheld if public interest or a third party’s interest would be better
served by nondisclosure. Access can also be denied if the documents refer to government
actions related to constitutional responsibilities, national defense or national security,
investigations, business or industrial secrecy or monetary policy. Access to documents that
contain personal information are limited to the persons named in the documents.

Law 38/1995 on the right of access to information relating to the environment implements
the EU Access to Environment Directive.150 The Data Protection Act allows individuals to
access and correct records about themselves held by public and private bodies.

1.6.38. Sweden

Sweden has a long history of freedom of information. The world’s first freedom of
information act was the Riksdag’s (Swedish Parliament) Freedom of the Press Act of 1766.
The Act required that official documents should “upon request immediately be made
available to anyone making a request” at no charge. The Freedom of the Press Act,151 now
part of the Constitution, decrees that “every Swedish citizen shall have free access to official
documents.” Public authorities must respond immediately to requests for open documents.

The current version of the Act was adopted in 1949 and amended in 1976. Individuals are
allowed broad access to “official documents” held by public authorities. The documents are
available when the matters they refer to have been settled, when they are sent to another
authority or are received by an authority from outside parties. Internal documents such as
drafts, memoranda and outlines are not considered official documents unless they are filed
and registered or they contain new factual information that are taken into account in decision
making. There is no obligation to keep nonofficial documents.

149 Ley 30/1992, de 26 de Noviembre, de Regimen Jurídico de las Administraciones Públicas y del
Procedimiento Administrativo Común, http://www.um.es/siu/marco/30-92.htm. Modified by ley 4/99, de 13
January 1999.
150 See http://www.mma.es/normativa/legis/138-1995.htm
151 See http://www.uni-wuerzburg.de/law/sw03000-.html

Each authority is required to keep an index of all official documents; most indices are
publicly available. This makes it possible for ordinary citizens to go to the Prime Minister’s
office and view copies of all his correspondence.

There are discretionary exemptions. Information may be withheld if such is “necessary” to
protect national security and foreign relations, economic policy, the supervisory activities of
a public authority, the prevention or prosecution of crime, public economic interest, privacy,
and the preservation of plant and animal species. All restrictions must be specified by law.
An extensive and comprehensive list of exemptions to access is provided in the Secrecy Act
1980.

Decisions by public authorities to deny access to official documents may be appealed
internally and to general administrative courts and ultimately, to the Supreme
Administrative Court. The Parliamentary Ombudsman has some oversight functions for
freedom of information.

The government ran an “Open Sweden Campaign” to encourage openness coordinated by
representatives from the national government, county councils, municipalities and trade
unions.152 The campaign was aimed at increasing public-sector transparency, raising the
level of public knowledge and awareness of information disclosure policies, and
encouraging active citizen involvement and debate.

Individuals have a right to access and correct personal information held by public and
private bodies under the Personal Data Act.153

152 Homepage: http://www.oppnasverige.gov.se/page/1/42.html
153 Personal Data Act (1998:204) http://www.datainspektionen.se/PDF-filer/ovrigt/pul-eng.pdf

1.6.39. Thailand

Section 48 (bis) of the Constitution states:

“Persons shall have the right to receive information or news from the government agency or
state agency or public enterprise in order to check the performance of the government
official or state official when such matters have or may have effects on the life of such
persons as the law provided.”154

The Official Information Act was approved in July 1997 and went into effect in December
1997.155 The Act requires state agencies to publish or make available various types of
information and allows citizens to demand official information that is not published. The
agency must respond within a “reasonable time.” They are also required to keep indices of
documents

Information that “may jeopardize the Royal Institution” cannot be disclosed. There are
discretionary non disclosure of information dealing with national security and international
relations, law enforcement, opinions and advice, and anything that may threaten the life or
safety of any person.

Those denied information can appeal to the five Information Disclosure Tribunals whose
decisions are deemed final. The Official Information Board supervises and gives advice on
implementation, recommends enactment of Royal Decrees, receives complaints on failure to
publish information, and submits reports. The Office of the Official Information
Commission (OIC) which is part of the Prime Minister’s Office, is the secretariat of the
other bodies.156 The OIC reports that it handled 150 complaints and 88 appeals in 2001.

154 Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, B.E. 2534 (1991).
http://www.parliament.go.th/files/library/b05-b.htm
155Official Information Act. B.E. 2540 (1997),
http://www.krisdika.go.th/law/text/lawpub/e02092540/text.htm
156 Homepage: http://www.oic.thaigov.go.th/eng/engmain.asp

There were some 500,000 requests in the first three years of the Act. In one well-known
incident, a mother whose daughter was denied entry into an elite state school demanded the
school’s entrance exam results. When she was turned down, she appealed to the OIC and the
courts. In the end, she obtained information showing that the children of influential people
were accepted into the school even if they got low scores. As a result, the Council of State
issued an order that all schools accept students solely on merit. Other information requests
have resulted in the release of the government report on the May 1992 uprising and the
release of investigation reports of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

The Thai government proclaimed 2002 the Year of Access to Official Information. There
were efforts to amend the Act due to problems found during the first few years of
implementation. These problems included the following:

Unrealistic time frames that need to be extended;

Enforcing decisions of the Tribunals was difficult due to overlapping laws;

Several of the ex-officio members of the Commission frequently did not attend meetings;

The OIC was part of the bureaucracy while the Board and Tribunal were independent.157

1.6.40. Trinidad and Tobago

The Freedom of Information Act was approved in 1999.158 It allows any person to demand
official documents in any form from public authorities, including public corporations and
private bodies that are exercising state power. Response to information requests should be
made within 30 days. The Act also requires state agencies to publish an extensive amount of
information.

157 See Mark Tamthai, Mechanisms to implement legislation on access to information, 2002
158 Freedom of Information Act, 1999, Act 26 of 1999, http://www.foia.gov.tt

There are exemptions for Cabinet documents less than 10 years old, defense and security,
international relations, internal working documents, law enforcement, privilege, personal
privacy, trade secrets, confidence, and documents protected by another law. There is a
public-interest test that allows documents to be released if there is “reasonable evidence” of
a significant abuse or neglect of authority, injustice to an individual, danger to the health of
an individual, or the unauthorized use of public funds.

The Act does not apply to the President and the judicial functions of the courts. The
President may also issue a decree exempting agencies from coverage under the Act. Those
denied can appeal to the Ombudsman who may issue a recommendation which is not
binding on the agency concerned. Appeals can also be made to the High Court for judicial
review.

1.6.41. Ukraine

The 1992 Law on Information states: “All citizens, juridical persons, and government bodies
of Ukraine shall have the right to information, envisaging the possibility of free receipt, use,
dissemination, and storage of any such data as may be required for the implementation of
their rights, freedoms, and lawful interests, as well as for carrying out their tasks and
discharging their functions.” Citizens have the right to ask for any official document. The
government body must respond in 10 days.

Documents can be withheld if they contain state secrets, confidential information,
information on law- enforcement authorities or investigations, personal information,
interdepartmental correspondence for policy decisions, regulatory and legal documents, and
information on fiscal institutions. Denials can be appealed to a higher level at the agency
concerned and then to a court.

Article 2 of On the Order of Dissemination of Information on Public Bodies and Local
Governments Activity by Mass Media159 requires public bodies to inform the mass media
about their activities”.

1.6.42. United Kingdom

The Freedom of Information Act was approved in November 2000 after nearly 20 years of
campaigning.160 The Act gives any person a general right of access to information held by a
broad array of public authorities, which will number over 70,000 when it is in full effect.
State authorities are required to respond within 20 working days. Public authorities are also
required to publish a number of categories of information about their structures and
activities. The Act contains many exemptions and has been criticized by NGOs and
politicians across the political spectrum as being insufficient and weaker than the existing
code of practice. Intelligence agencies are excluded from coverage under the Act.

Under a “class exemption,” information can be withheld if it is determined to be within a
broad class of exempted information. These include information that relates to policy
formulations, ministerial communications, investigations and proceedings, “the effective
conduct of public affairs,” factual information and its analysis, research findings, scientific
assessments, evidence of health hazards, reports on overseas practice, cost data, technical
assumptions, consultants’ studies and untested assertions fed into the system by lobbyists.
Statistics can be withheld under the “policy-formulation” exemption, but only if they relate
to a decision that has already been made. Statistics about an undecided matter can be
suppressed.

There is also a more limited “prejudice exemption” where the government body must show
prejudice (harm) to specified interests. These include areas relating to defense, international
relations, economy, crime prevention, commercial interests, and immigration.

159 Statute of September 23, 1997 (No 539/97)
160 Freedom of Information Act 2000 http://www.cfoi.org.uk/foiact2000.html

A “public-interest test” provides that information can be withheld only when the public
interest in maintaining the class or prejudice exemption outweighs the public interest in
disclosure. Decisions on the public-interest test can be made beyond the Act’s 20-day limit
as long as it is within a time period that is deemed “reasonable in the circumstances.”

The law creates a new office, the Information Commissioner, who will oversee both the
Freedom of Information regime and the Data Protection Act 1998. The Commissioner has
the power to receive complaints and issue decisions. However, the Commissioner’s decision
can be overruled by the Minister of the Department in some cases with a ministerial
certificate. Appeals of the Commissioner’s decisions are made to the Information Tribunal
which can also review and quash certificates on limited grounds. Appeals of the Tribunal’s
decisions on points of law are made to the High Court of Justice.

Implementation of the Act has been slow. The government announced in November 2001
that provisions of the Act that allow citizens to demand information will not be enforced
until 2005. It announced that all local departments would implement the legislation in a “big
bang,” rather than in phases. Publication schemes came into effect for central government
departments in November 2002 and were phased in for other national and local departments
following that.

A 1994 “Code of Practice on Access to Government Information” provides some access to
government records but has 15 broad exemptions. Dissatisfied applicants can complain, via
a Member of Parliament to the Parliamentary Ombudsman if their request is denied.161 In
November 2001, the former Home Secretary, Jack Straw, refused to comply with the
Ombudsman’s rulings under the open government code.

This is not a limited implemented blanket exemption for all ministerial communications.
There are continued restrictions on information under the repressive Official Secrecy Act.162
The Act was used against journalist Tony Geraghty and his assistants for their work on the

161 Government of the United Kingdom, Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, April 4
1994, revised in January 1997, http://www.cfoi.org.uk/coptext.html
162 http://www.cyber-rights.org/secrecy/

book, The Irish War, which details surveillance techniques used in Northern Ireland and the
UK by the police and intelligence services.163 Another journalist was arrested under the Act
in February 2000 for communicating with former intelligence agent David Shayler, who is
currently being prosecuted for revealing that the MI-5 had spied on many current Labour
Party ministers and had bungled an attempt to assassinate Libyan leader Colonel Mouammar
Khadafi.

The Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 provided the public and the press
new rights of access to documents about the policies and practices of local authorities. It
also extended the number of meetings of local authorities and some other public bodies
which are open to the public and to the press.

1.6.43. Scotland

The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act was approved by the Scottish Parliament in
May 2002164 following public consultations that began in November 1999.165 The law is
considered much stronger than the UK Act. It has a stronger balancing test for restricting
information. Information can be withheld only if it would cause “substantial prejudice.” It
also gives the Scottish Information Commissioner greater powers to mandate disclosure in
the public interest.166 Ministers can veto the Commissioner’s decisions.

1.6.44. Wales

The Welsh Assembly has released a Code of Practice based on the UK code. It requires
disclosure of information unless it would cause “substantial harm” if it were released.
However, the Welsh Assembly has limited legislative powers.

163 See http://jya.com/irish-war.htm
164 See http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parl-bus/bills/b36s1.pdf
165 http://www.scotland.gov.uk/library2/doc07/opsc-00.htm
166 See the Campaign for Freedom of Information in Scotland site for more information
http://www.cfoi.org.uk/scotland.html

1.6.45. United States

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was enacted in 1966167 and has been amended
several times, most recently in 1996 by the Electronic Freedom of Information Act, which
provides access to records in electronic form.168 The law allows any person or organization,
regardless of citizenship or country of origin, to ask for records held by federal government
agencies. Agencies include executive and military departments, government corporations
and other entities which perform government functions except for Congress, the courts or
the President’s immediate staff at the White House, including the National Security Council.
Government agencies must respond in 20 working days.

There are nine categories of exemptions, including national security, internal agency rules,
information protected by other statutes, business information, inter and intra agency memos,
personal privacy, law- enforcement records, financial institutions and oil wells data. Appeals
of denials or complaints about extensive delays can be made internally to the agency
concerned or to the federal courts.

In 2000, there were 2,235,201 FOIA requests made to federal agencies.169 The Act’s utility,
however, has been undermined by a lack of central oversight and in many state agencies,
long delays in processing requests. In some instances, information is released only after
years or decades.

There have been setbacks in access to information since the election of President George
Bush and the events of September 11, 2001. In October 2001, Attorney General John
Ashcroft issued a memo stating that the Justice Department would defend in court any
federal agency that withheld information on justifiable grounds.170 The Bush administration
had also engaged in several high-profile attempts to prevent access to information about the

167 Freedom of Information Act, 5 USC 552, 1966, http://www.epic.org/open-gov/foia/us-foia-act.html
168 Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996. http://www.epic.org/open-gov/efoia.html
169 Justice Department, “Summary of Annual FOIA Reports for Fiscal Year 2000,
http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foiapost/2002foiapost3.htm
170 http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/foiapost/2001foiapost19.htm

secret meetings of the energy policy task force. Many federal websites were either closed or
some of the information that they had were taken out.171

The Sunshine Act requires the government to disclose the deliberations of multi-agency
bodies such as the Federal Communications Commission.172 The Federal Advisory
Committee Act requires the openness of committees that advise federal agencies or the
President.173 The Privacy Act of 1974 works in conjunction with the FOIA to allow
individuals to access their personal records held by federal agencies.174

There are also laws in all states on providing access to government records.175 A number of
states have information commissions which review decisions. State laws on freedom of
information have also been under threat since September 11.

1.6.46. Uzbekistan

Article 30 of the 1992 Constitution states:

“All state bodies, public associations, and officials of the Republic of Uzbekistan shall allow
any citizen access to documents, resolutions, and other materials, relating to their rights
and interests.”176

The Law on Guarantees and Freedom of Access to Information was adopted on April 24,
1997.177 Its main principles are “publicity, accessibility, openness and trustworthiness of
information.” The law allows individuals to demand information from state bodies, self-
government bodies, public organizations, enterprises, establishments and officials. The state

171 See OMB Watch, Access to Government Information Post September 11th,
http://www.ombwatch.org/article/archive/104/
172 Government in the Sunshine Act, 5 U.S.C. 552b
173 Federal Advisory Committee Act, 1972, 5 U.S.C. App II
174 Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. 552a
175 See Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. http://www.reporters.net/nfoic/web/index.htm
176 http://www.uta.edu/cpsees/UZBEKCON.htm
177 The Law on Guarantees and Freedom of Access to Information
http://www.ijnet.org/img/assets/1033/Uzbekistan-Access-to-Information-Law.doc

bodies have to respond immediately to oral requests. They are given 30 days to respond to
written requests. Information relating to rights and rightful interests of a person are available
free of charge. Fees may be imposed on the release of other information, but the amounts
must be agreed upon by the parties concerned. Information protected by the official secrets
law cannot be released.

The media is required to publish accurate information. International treaties that provide for
a right to information have precedence over the Act. Individuals can appeal in court for
limits on the right. Violations of the right can be sanctioned. In June 2002, the U.S.-based
Committee to Protect Journalists called on the Uzbekistan government to create an
independent commission of legal experts and local journalists to review various laws,
including those on access to information.

1.6.47. Zimbabwe

Parliament approved the Access to Information and Privacy Bill in January 2002 and it was
signed by President Mugabe in February 2002.178 The controversial law was opposed by
many governments, NGOs, media organizations and the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom
of Opinion and Expression. While it does include limited provisions on access and privacy,
the main thrust of the law was to give the government extensive powers to control the media
by requiring the registration of journalists and prohibiting the “abuse of free expression.”
The law creates a right of access by any citizen or resident (but not an unregistered media
agency or foreign government) to records held by a public body. The body must respond in
30 days.

There are exemptions for Cabinet documents and deliberations of local government bodies,
advice given to public bodies, client-attorney privilege, law-enforcement proceedings,
national security, intergovernmental relations, public safety, commercial information, and
privacy. There is a public-interest disclosure provision that allows the government to release
information even if there is no request for a variety of reasons, including matters that

178 Draft available at http://www.privacyinternational.org/countries/zimbabwe/accessinfo-amend-102.doc

threaten public order; the prevention, detection or suppression of crime; and national
security.
The Act creates a Media and Information Commission which has mostly been used to
register and harass journalists. Individuals can ask the Commission to review the decisions
or actions of an agency. The Commission can conduct inquiries into the Act and order
release of documents. Appeals can be made to an administrative court. As of June 2002, the
Act’s censorship provisions had been used against 12 journalists (many of whom were jailed
for the violations), including one from the UK Guardian. There was one reported instance of
the access to information provision being used by the opposition party.179

179 MDC Demands Forex Receipts From RBZ, Financial Gazette (Harare), June 13, 2002