When the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) finally comes into full operation on 1 January, 2005, everyone will enjoy a legally enforceable right of access to information held by public bodies. This right will be particularly important to journalists, but will they find that it lives up to the Government’s claims?
A right of access to official information is not a novel concept in UK law. A variety of statutes already give access to certain information held by local government, health authorities and some other bodies. The Open Government Code of Practice, meanwhile, provides a non-statutory regime for access to information held by central government.
