The Hindu : International : U.K. Act opens gates to information

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jan 02, 2005

International

International

U.K. Act opens gates to information

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, JAN 1. For Britons, an otherwise cheerless New Year promised to usher in a more open Government as the long-awaited Freedom of Information Act, which would provide ordinary citizens unprecedented access to official records, came into force on Saturday — nearly five years after it was enacted, and 30 years after the Labour Party first mooted the idea. Under the Act, which would apply to all the 100,000 public bodies, people would be able to get any information that might have gone into a Government decision affecting them.

First test

Though the Government retains powers to refuse disclosure on grounds of national security, the Information Commissioner Richard Thomas has promised a `robust' approach and said that bodies which consistently withhold information would be "named and shamed.'' The first test of the Act is expected to come soon as journalists and civil rights groups plan to ask the Government to make public the Attorney-General's advice on the legality of the Iraq war. There is much speculation that the Act might fall on the "first hurdle'' itself as the Government appears reluctant to release the Attorney-General's full report.

Lord Falconer, Secretary of State for Constitutional Affairs, hinted in a newspaper interview on Saturday the Government was likely to seek exemption in this case. Asked by The Independent if the Government would agree to disclose the legal advice on Iraq, he said: "I suspect, it won't.'' He hailed the Act as a move towards "breaking the instincts of secrecy'' in the Government and said even requests which are refused would be made public.

The Government denied allegations that "hundreds of thousands'' of secret documents were shredded by Government departments before the Act came into force.

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