Freedom of information

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
QA law

This article was entered in the editorial right for improvement due to formal or factual deficiencies in quality assurance . This is done in order to bring the quality of articles from the subject area law to an acceptable level. Help to eliminate the shortcomings in this article and take part in the discussion ! ( + ) Reason: In the German-speaking world, freedom of information is generally understood to mean the basic right from Art. 5 I 1 2nd var. GG, according to which “everyone” has the right “to inform themselves from generally accessible sources without hindrance”. The article describes something completely different. A definition of terms is currently available, the article must therefore be revised. If necessary, the article Freedom of Recipients can be used; the Federal Constitutional Court does not use this term, but continues to speak of freedom of information in consistent case law. The problem was noticed during the deletion discussion on the article on freedom of recipients - Aschmidt 01:19, 29 Feb. 2012 (CET)

Freedom of information , including freedom of access to information , information transparency , English Freedom of Information (FOI) is a fundamental right to public inspection of documents and files of public administration . In this context, for. B. Public authorities and authorities are obliged to publish their files and processes (principle of public access) or to make them accessible to citizens ( administrative transparency ) and to define binding quality standards for access for this purpose.

The right of access to information is now guaranteed in over 110 countries by freedom of information laws (IFG) and freedom of information statutes at local level. They regulate the corresponding rights and specify the detailed procedure to grant them free access. Freedom of information laws primarily serve the democratic formation of opinion and will.

The connection to the freedom of recipients is established in so far as the provisions of the respective freedom of information law determine the information sources recorded by it to provide information to the general public and thus represent generally accessible sources.

history

The first developments on freedom of information occurred in Sweden in 1766 with the introduction of the principles of the public. This was intended to ensure control and transparency of state activities. Free access to information is still firmly anchored in Sweden today. Access rights to official documents have existed in Finland since 1951.

The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) was passed in 1966 by the democracy movement in the USA in the 1960s . This gives every person access to the files of an authority.

In the early 1970s, freedom of information laws were passed in more and more European countries. Denmark and Norway began in 1970, followed by France (1978) and Belgium (1994). All of these states were based on Swedish law. Other countries then followed suit and passed their own laws on freedom of information (including Canada 1985 and Mexico 2003).

The EU has been dealing with the issue since 1990 and has initiated several regulations and guidelines. In 2001 the regulation on public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents was adopted by the EU.

Switzerland passed a law on freedom of information in 2004 and a law on freedom of information came into force in the Federal Republic of Germany in 2006.

Germany

A general right of access to information for citizens to documents from federal authorities - regardless of whether they were directly affected personally - came into force in Germany as the Freedom of Information Act on January 1, 2006. There are also similar laws in federal states regarding state authorities (including local authorities).

The Environmental Information Act first created in 1994 further to the limited area of environmental transparency.

Freedom of recipients is guaranteed in the Basic Law ( Art. 5, Paragraph 1, Clause 1, 2nd Hs GG). "Generally accessible" are those sources of information that are technically suitable and intended to provide information to the general public.

The right of access to information does not regularly cover matters of internal and external security, investigative and legal proceedings, intellectual property, trade and business secrets and personal data, for which the general principle applies that the right to access information does not break the right to informational self-determination .

Country level

Federal states with freedom of information legislation (as of 2018)

Freedom of information laws have already come into force in the federal states

Baden-Württemberg

In Baden-Württemberg, a corresponding draft law was rejected by the state parliament on December 15, 2005 . In the fourth year of government of the green-red coalition , an agreement from the coalition agreement should be implemented and a freedom of information law created. In the course of 2014, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of the Interior wanted to present a corresponding draft law. Key points have already been presented within the ministry. Netzwerk Recherche criticized the fact that the draft law was based on the Federal Government's 2006 Freedom of Information Act, which was already cautious, and that it fell behind with further exceptions. The law regulating access to information in Baden-Württemberg ( state freedom of information law for short , LIFG for short ) was promulgated on December 29, 2015 and came into force the following day.

Bavaria

In Bavaria there were seven legislative initiatives from the Greens and the SPD between 2001 and 2011, and a total of eleven since 2001, as well as from the Free Voters in 2010. However, these were all rejected in the state parliament by the CSU majority and from the state elections in 2008 also by the CSU-FDP coalition. However, freedom of information statutes are establishing themselves at the municipal level.

At the initiative of local parties and alliances, freedom of information statutes are now in force in around 80 cities and communities (e.g. in Munich , Nuremberg , Regensburg , Würzburg , Ingolstadt, etc.), which guarantee freedom of information at least for the community's own sphere of activity . The associations Mehr Demokratie , Transparency International and the Humanist Union joined forces in Bavaria in 2003 in the Alliance for Freedom of Information to promote freedom of information laws at the state and local level. In addition to the founding members, 13 associations and parties currently belong to the alliance.

Berlin

A law to promote freedom of information in Berlin (Berlin Freedom of Information Act - IFG) came into force on October 15, 1999. A civil society alliance has written a draft for a transparency law that it intends to introduce across Berlin as part of a referendum.

Brandenburg

On March 10, 1998, Brandenburg was the first federal state to pass a freedom of information law in the form of the File Inspection and Information Access Act (AIG). The last reform took place in 2013 with some extensions and specifications.

Bremen

In Bremen, the law on freedom of access to information for the state of Bremen (Bremer Informationsfreiheitsgesetz, BremIFG) was passed on May 16, 2006 (BremGBl S263) and came into force on August 1, 2006. A special feature in comparison to the IFG of the federal government and all other German IFGs is an extended publication requirement via a central electronic information register "to make it easier to find information" (§ 11 (5)). This is based on the assessment that the usual requirement that an applicant must submit his application to the office that has the information sought and must describe it as precisely as possible, represents a hurdle that many citizens cannot overcome. In the central information register, which is accessible online, you can use various search terms to find out which documents might correspond to the information you want and download them. One can therefore speak of a new generation of IFGs, which is characterized by a transition from the debt of the citizens to the debt of the authorities. The BremIFG is limited in time and provides for an evaluation before the expiry of the time limit. The evaluation report was presented to the citizenship in April 2010 together with a statement from the Senate. The amendment should take place there in the legislative period at that time (before May 2011). We are not aware of any result.

Hamburg

On June 13, 2012, the Hamburg citizenship passed the “Hamburg Transparency Act” (HmbTG). The law was written in a wiki by a popular initiative of Mehr Demokratie , Transparency International and the Chaos Computer Club as well as several allies . The core elements of the law are an obligation to publish all information of public interest: u. a. Contracts for services of general interest, appraisals, geodata, building permits, grant notices (§ 3), an expansion of the concept of authority, etc. a. to companies that perform public tasks (Section 2, Paragraph 3), as well as a significant restriction of the exceptions, e.g. B. Company and trade secrets (§§ 4 to 7). The Transparency Act thus goes well beyond existing Freedom of Information Acts (IFGs). The law came into force on October 6, 2012. The publication requirement is fulfilled on the transparency portal Hamburg.

Hesse

The Hessian Data Protection and Freedom of Information Act (HDSIG) came into force on May 25, 2018. The Hesse Environmental Information Act (HUIG) has been in force since December 22, 2006.

Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

Since July 10, 2006, the law regulating access to information for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (Freedom of Information Act - IFG MV) has regulated access. An evaluation was last carried out in 2009.

Lower Saxony

In Lower Saxony, where there is also no freedom of information law at the state level, the city of Göttingen was the first municipality to issue a freedom of information statute. The city of Braunschweig also issued a corresponding statute in March 2012.

On January 31, 2017, the state government of Lower Saxony approved a draft of a Freedom of Information Act that should come into force by autumn 2017. This draft was no longer completed in the legislative period before the early elections. Unlike z. For example, the IFG of the federal government provided for the charging of fees according to the actual workload for answering without a cap. This also applied to negative decisions. The law did not provide for the active publication of information by authorities without prior public inquiry.

North Rhine-Westphalia

The law on freedom of access to information for the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (North Rhine-Westphalia Freedom of Information Act - IFG NRW) came into force on November 27, 2001. The law was evaluated in 2004.

Rhineland-Palatinate

On November 11, 2008, the state parliament of Rhineland-Palatinate voted for a state freedom of information law (LIFG), which had been in force since January 1, 2009. This was replaced by the State Transparency Act (LTranspG) of November 27, 2015, which came into force on January 1, 2016.

Saarland

The Saarland Freedom of Information Act (SIFG) came into force on July 12, 2006. The law was evaluated in 2010, with the result that it would be continued without changes.

Saxony-Anhalt

In Saxony-Anhalt, the Saxony-Anhalt Information Access Act (IZG LSA) was passed on June 19, 2008; published in GVBl. LSA 12/2008 p. 242. The law came into force on October 1, 2008. It stipulates that everyone has the right to access official information in accordance with the law. The cost ordinance (IZG LSA KostVO) enacted by law was one of the most expensive in Germany until it was changed in 2019. Fees of up to € 500 may be charged for providing information. The country's Data Protection Commissioner of Saxony-Anhalt also performs the duties of the State Commissioner for Freedom of Information according to the law. In order to facilitate the implementation of the law, he has drawn up extensive application notes.

Schleswig-Holstein

The Information Access Act for the State of Schleswig-Holstein (IZG-SH) was enacted on January 19, 2012.

Thuringia

The state of Thuringia regulated access to information in the Thuringian Freedom of Information Act (ThürIFG) of December 14, 2012.

Switzerland

In Switzerland, the Federal Act on the Freedom of Information in Administration (BGÖ), which was passed on December 17, 2004 and came into force on July 1, 2006, promotes the transparency of the administration by giving everyone the right to inspect documents of federal agencies to take. The federal administration is about to switch from the traditional principle of confidentiality to the principle of public disclosure .

Austria

In Austria, administrative transparency at the federal level is regulated by the Information Obligation Act (Federal Act of 15 May 1987 on the Information Obligation of the Administration of the Federation and an amendment to the Federal Ministries Act 1986). For federal states and municipalities, the Basic Law of the Duty to Provide Information (Federal Basic Law of May 15, 1987 on the Duty to Provide Information of the Administration of the States and Municipalities) as well as the federal state's obligation to provide information, such as the Vienna Duty to Provide Information Act, the Lower Austrian Information Act or the Vorarlberg Law on the provision of information in the Administration of the country and the municipalities.

In contrast to Germany, the right of the citizen does not give rise to the right to inspect files, and official secrecy or official secrecy is unique in the EU ( Art. 20 Federal Constitutional Law 1920). Since the beginning of 2013 there have been initial efforts in Austria to improve the freedom of information and to adapt official secrecy by means of a constitutional provision. After the National Council election , the government announced in the new work program that it wanted to replace official secrecy, taking into account the fundamental right to data protection. A first draft assessment for a B-VG amendment was promised for the first half of 2014. At the end of March 2014, a frequently criticized draft for a freedom of information law was submitted for assessment. In May, the Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for Human Rights also criticized the Austrian government's draft. In June, Karlheinz Kopf and Barbara Prammer proposed a new, tightened security regime for parliament. The draft provides for new degrees of secrecy and has been heavily criticized. Austrian journalists' associations such as the Austrian Press Council , Reporters Without Borders , Concordia Press Club and others called for a modern freedom of information law after reforms for investigative committees were postponed again. Until the end of June 2015, the Austrian parliamentarians were unable to pass a freedom of information law. In November 2015 draft of the proposed walked duty to inform law in assessment . Transparency International criticized the draft, which was adopted in 2016 and will come into force in 2018. Federal states demanded exceptions and additional restrictions on the information obligations. In June 2017, the abolition of official secrecy failed again.

Europe

In 1979 the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe adopted Recommendation No. 854 (1979) “Reg. public access to government documents and freedom of information ” . These principles were implemented by the Council of Ministers through recommendations of the Council of Europe of 25 November 1981 and 21 February 2002 to promote freedom of information laws in all member states of the Council of Europe. Freedom of information laws exist in almost all European countries. Most countries in Europe have followed these recommendations and passed appropriate laws. The Council of Europe is working on the adoption of a binding convention on access to public administration documents.

Article 10 of the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms protects freedom of information. The freedom of expression is protected separately in Article 18. The judgment of the European Court of Human Rights (Fifth Section), Case Sdruženi Jihoceské Matky v Czech Republic , Application No. 19101/03 of July 10, 2006 contains “an express and undeniable recognition of the application of Article 10 in the event of a refusal of an application Access to Public or Regulatory Documents ”. The Geraguyn Khorhurd Patgamavorakan Akumb v. Armenia , Application No. 11721/04 of April 11, 2006 confirms this case law.

European Union

Public access to documents of the EU administration itself is regulated by Regulation (EC) No. 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 on public access to documents of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission . In April 2008 an amendment proposal was submitted for this, which reacts to the case law of the European Court of Justice and the recommendations of the Parliament from 2006 - various details (definition of document , rights of objection) are viewed critically.

Sweden

In Sweden, administrative transparency was introduced in 1766 with the Freedom of the Press Act (“Tryckfrihetsförordningen”) and is part of the Swedish constitution . In Swedish , the principles regulated by this are referred to as the public light principle (the principle of the public), which has been in force ever since. It was the Finnish (Finland was under Swedish rule at the time) clergyman and member of parliament Anders Chydenius who "brought" the right of access to documents through. This right was a reaction to the tremendous secrecy as well as the press censorship in the past.

The “disclosure principle” states that all information and documents that have been produced or received by an authority must be made accessible to everyone. Exceptions may apply. a. for documents from security agencies and the military.

United Kingdom

After a five-year transition period, the UK's Freedom of Information Act came into force on January 1, 2005. The Information Commissioner is responsible for compliance with this law on the part of the state.

Netherlands

The first Freedom of Information Act was introduced in the Netherlands in 1980 and reformed in 2005. It is currently used relatively rarely, with 1,000 applications per year. The foundation “Wij vertrouwen stemcomputers niet” (“We don't trust voting computers”) provided a good example of the effectiveness of the law. In February 2007 she received several documents from the Dutch Electoral Committee. These show that the election committee fears that it will no longer be able to hold elections without the support of the voting computer manufacturer Nedap . Nedap also sent an email to the Dutch government to buy the company, otherwise the next election would no longer be supported.

North America

United States

In the United States, the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has existed since 1966, a freedom of information law. Recently, discussions in the USA have been sparked above all on the question of how freedom of information and national security can be agreed and how trade secrets can be effectively protected.

Another point of criticism that keeps cropping up in the German discussion is the additional administrative effort - at the federal level alone, over 5,000 civil servants in the USA are busy processing FOIA applications; the cost is over $ 300 million.

Canada

The Canadian Access to Information Act went into effect on July 1, 1983 and was last amended on April 5, 2016. An Information Commissioner , who heads the Office of the Information Commissioner, oversees freedom of information .

International

More than 65 countries worldwide have passed freedom of information laws and enshrined them as a fundamental right in their constitution.

The relevant regulations are for example:

Individual legal regulations exist for example in:

Denmark
Law No. 572 of December 19, 1985 on access to public administration files.
France
Law No. 78-753 of July 17, 1978 on the improvement of relations between administration and the public (transparency in the administrative area) as amended by Law 2000-321 of April 12, 2000
also
  • Law 2002-303 of March 4, 2002 on access to medical records
  • Law No. 78-17 of January 6, 1978 on data processing, files and freedoms (concerning access to electronically stored files)
  • Law No. 79-18 of January 3, 1979 on access to archives
Ireland
Freedom of Information Act, No. 13/1997
Italy
Law No. 241 of August 7, 1990 on access to administrative documents

Mexico

Mexico was ruled by one and the same party from 1929 to 2000: the Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI; "Party of the Institutional Revolution"). The result was a very low level of transparency and, as a result, a high level of corruption.

After the change of government in December 2000, the Vicente Fox government (PAN) created the Transparency Act, which came into force on June 12, 2003.

This law gives citizens the right to see all information (not classified as “confidential”) from government, Congress, and any federal agency. A newly established federal institute for access to public information ( Instituto Federal de Acceso a la Información Pública IFAI - ) monitors compliance with this law . In order to facilitate access, the request is made via an electronic system. In 2004 39,000 inquiries were registered, of which ¾ were answered.

See also

literature

  • Sven Berger, Jürgen Roth, Christopher Scheel: Freedom of Information Act. Law regulating access to federal information (IFG). Comment . Carl Heymanns, Cologne / Berlin / Munich 2006, ISBN 3-452-26040-2 .
  • Jürgen Fluck , Andreas Theuer (Eds.), Freedom of Information Law with Environmental Information and Consumer Information Law, IFG / UIG / VIG, EU, Federal and State Regulations, International Law, Jurisdiction, Commentary, Status: 24. Akt. 2008. CF Müller Verlag, Heidelberg, ISBN 3-8114-9270-5
  • Hans-Ullrich Gallwas : The general conflict between the right to informational self-determination and freedom of information . In: NJW . 1992, Verlag CH Beck, pp. 2785-2848
  • Thomas Hart, Carolin Welzel, Hansjürgen Garstka: Freedom of information: The “transparent bureaucracy” as a civil right? Bertelsmann Stiftung Verlag , Gütersloh 2004, ISBN 3-89204-715-4
  • Semsrott, Arne: Freedom of Information - More Transparency for More Democracy. Otto Brenner Foundation, Berlin 2016
  • Serge-Daniel Jastrow, Arne Schlatmann : Freedom of Information Act (IFG). Comment . R. v. Decker's Verlag, Heidelberg / Munich / Landsberg / Berlin 2006, ISBN 978-3-7685-0545-1 .
  • Dieter Kugelmann : Freedom of Information Act (IFG) . Comment. 2007, ISBN 978-3-8293-0805-2 . In: kommunalpraxis.de
  • David Lukaßen: The case practice of information officers and their contribution to the development of the right to freedom of information . Duncker & Humblot, Berlin 2010, ISBN 3-428-13380-3 .
  • Mecklenburg, Pöppelmann: Freedom of Information Act . Comments / explanations. 2006, ISBN 978-3-935819-22-0
  • Matthias Rossi: Freedom of Information Act. Hand comment . Nomos, Baden-Baden 2006, ISBN 3-8329-1418-8 .
  • Harald L. Weber: Historical and constitutional foundations of a public right of access to information. In: Recht der Datenverarbeitung , 21, 2005, pp. 243-251.
  • Bodo Zumpe: Public Information of the State. Shown using the example of the freedom of information laws of the federal and state governments . Dresden 2007.

Legal texts:

   

Baden-Württemberg , Berlin , Brandenburg , Hamburg , North Rhine-Westphalia , Schleswig-Holstein , Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania , Bremen , Saarland , Saxony-Anhalt , Thuringia , Rhineland-Palatinate

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Chronological and Alphabetical lists of countries with FOI regimes. In: freedominfo.org. February 2017, accessed February 18, 2017 .
  2. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 on public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents. (PDF) Retrieved February 6, 2015 .
  3. ↑ a b c d Rudolf Feik: The official secrecy. Austria Convention, Institute for Constitutional and Administrative Law University of Salzburg, accessed on February 20, 2017 (analysis of the Austria Convention , overview of European legislation).
  4. ↑ The State Commissioner for Data Protection and Freedom of Information Rhineland-Palatinate On the history of freedom of information ( memento of the original dated February 6, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved February 6, 2015 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.datenschutz.rlp.de
  5. ↑ BVerfGE 27, 71 - Leipziger Volkszeitung decision .
  6. ↑ Bernd Palenda , Rolf Breidenbach: The new file inspection and information access law of the state of Brandenburg. In: LKV 1998, pp. 252-258.
  7. ↑ Plenary minutes 13/105. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: Plenary minutes of the 13th electoral term. State Parliament of Baden-Württemberg , December 15, 2005, p. 7612 , archived from the original on September 16, 2016 ; Retrieved on September 13, 2016 : “The bill was rejected by a majority.” Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.landtag-bw.de
  8. ↑ Andreas Müller: Hard struggle for more transparency . In: Stuttgarter Zeitung . tape 70 , no. 131 , June 10, 2014, p. 6 .
  9. ^ State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg (Ed.): Law Gazette for Baden-Württemberg . No. 25 , 2015, ISSN  0174-478X , p. 1201–1205 ( Landesrecht-bw.de [PDF]).
  10. ↑ hm: Freedom of information: It is still missing here. (PDF) (No longer available online.) In: headlights. Transparency International Deutschland eV , July 2011, p. 10 , archived from the original on September 19, 2013 ; accessed on September 13, 2016 : "In Bavaria there have been a total of seven parliamentary initiatives for a Bavarian freedom of information law in the past ten years - by the Greens, the SPD, most recently in 2010 by the Free Voters." Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet tested. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.transparency.de
  11. ↑ information Freiheit.org Overview of Bavarian municipalities with freedom of information statutes
  12. ^ Members of the Alliance for Freedom of Information in Bavaria
  13. ↑ juris GmbH: VIS BE IFG | State standard Berlin | Complete edition | Law for the Promotion of Freedom of Information in the State of Berlin (Berlin Freedom of Information Act - IFG) of October 15, 1999 | Valid from: October 30, 1999. Accessed February 18, 2017 .
  14. ↑ Referendum transparency. Retrieved April 6, 2019 .
  15. ↑ File Inspection and Information Access Act (AIG). Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  16. ↑ Official information bremen.de
  17. ↑ Herbert Kubicek : Freedom of information laws before another paradigm shift . In: D. Klumpp et al. a. (Ed.): Media, order and innovation . Berlin / Heidelberg 2006, pp. 331–342.
  18. ↑ Evaluation report (PDF)
  19. ↑ Statement of the Senate (PDF)
  20. ↑ Hamburg Citizenship, database
  21. ↑ Hamburg's citizens fight for transparency law , eGovernment Computing of June 14, 2012
  22. ↑ Hamburg Transparency Act Wiki
  23. ^ The Hamburg Transparency Act, legal text
  24. ↑ Transparency portal Hamburg
  25. ↑ https://fragdenstaat.de/staendigkeit/hessen/
  26. ^ Report on the application of the law regulating access to information for the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. (PDF) (No longer available online.) Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Parliament, July 24, 2009, archived from the original on February 19, 2017 ; accessed on February 18, 2017 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.datenschutz-mv.de
  27. ↑ Göttingen: Council votes for freedom of information statutes. September 12, 2011.
  28. ↑ Freedom of Information Statute for the City of Göttingen from 09.09.2011
  29. ^ Statutes regulating access to information within the city of Braunschweig's own sphere of activity (freedom of information statutes) . (PDF) March 30, 2012.
  30. ↑ http://blog.fragdenstaat.de/2017/ifg-niedersachsen/
  31. ^ Ministry of the Interior and Local Affairs of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Section 56: Laws and Ordinances | State law NRW. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  32. ^ Ministry of the Interior of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia: IFG-NRW - Review of the effects of the law after an experience of two years. State Parliament of North Rhine-Westphalia, October 12, 2014, accessed on February 18, 2017 .
  33. ↑ Rhineland-Palatinate: From January 2009 citizens have the right to information from authorities.
  34. ^ Information from the Ministry of Social Affairs, Labor, Health and Demography of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate
  35. ↑ State Transparency Act (LTranspG) of November 27, 2015
  36. ^ Saarland: Land law | Saarland.de. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  37. ↑ Evaluation of the requests for the Freedom of Information Act in Saarland. (PDF) Saarland State Parliament, July 24, 2015, accessed on February 18, 2016 .
  38. ^ Juris GmbH: Laws-Jurisprudence Schleswig-Holstein IZG-SH | State standard Schleswig-Holstein | Information Access Act for the State of Schleswig-Holstein (IZG-SH) of January 19, 2012 | Valid from: January 27, 2012. Accessed February 18, 2017 .
  39. ^ Juris GmbH: Landesrecht TH ThürIFG | State standard Thuringia | Thuringian Freedom of Information Act (ThürIFG) of December 14, 2012 | valid from: 29.12.2012. Retrieved February 18, 2017 .
  40. ↑ Initiative information obligation instead of official secrecy orf.at
  41. ↑ Official secret: sleepers under sleepers derstandard.at, accessed on July 11, 2013
  42. ↑ Netzpolitik: What the new government is planning futurezone.at
  43. ↑ Work program 2013–2018. (PDF) wienerzeitung.at, freedom of information instead of official secret , p. 100; Retrieved December 16, 2013
  44. ^ Much criticism of the new transparency law oe1.orf.at
  45. ↑ New Transparency Act: "Many back doors built in" derstandard.at, accessed on March 27, 2014
  46. ↑ Official secret: Continue to wait for abolition oe1.orf.at, accessed on May 17, 2014
  47. ↑ Head wants stricter secrecy in parliament derstandard.at
  48. ↑ Negotiations: More security in parliament diepresse.com
  49. ↑ Security in Parliament: Experts fear cover-up derstandard.at
  50. ^ Official secrecy, made worse by official mold salzburg.com, accessed on June 13, 2014
  51. ^ U-Committees: Reform is delayed diepresse.com
  52. ↑ Official secret: How politics defends its knowledge against its citizens profil.at, accessed on July 7, 2014
  53. ^ Abolition of official secrecy is delayed oe1.orf.at, accessed on June 23, 2015
  54. ↑ What authorities can keep secret in the future , pdf , derstandard.at, accessed on November 9, 2015
  55. ^ Month-long debate on reform orf.at, accessed on December 21, 2015
  56. ↑ au, sefe, APA: Abolition of official secrecy failed. In: derstandard.at. Oscar Bronner, Dr. Alexandra Föderl-Schmid, June 27, 2017, accessed on July 2, 2017 .
  57. ↑ Recommendation of the Council of Europe (81) 19 of November 25, 1981 ( Memento of the original of February 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.coe.int
  58. ↑ Recommendation 2000 ( Memento of the original from May 1, 2005 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.privacyinternational.org
  59. ↑ European Court of Human Rights: Case of Sdruženi Jihočeské Matky v. Czech Republic
  60. ↑ Regulation (EC) No. 1049/2001 (PDF) , Official Journal No. L 145 of 31/05/2001 pp. 0043–0048
  61. ↑ Commission cheats on freedom of information. In: futurezone . ORF online, April 29, 2008, accessed on November 29, 2008 .
  62. ↑ Freedom of Information: Netherlands (English)
  63. ↑ The Dutch FOIA: a 25 year old toddler ( MS Word ; 54 kB; English)
  64. ↑ Voting systems company threatens Dutch state: “Buy my company now or you won't have provincial elections” February 28, 2007, foundation “We don't trust voting computers” (English)
  65. ↑ Canada Border Services Agency : Access to Information and Privacy