Freedom of Information Act скачать в хорошем качестве

Freedom of Information Act

Freedom of information is aptly defined as regulations and laws that provide members of the community with a legally enforceable right of access to information in the possession of government. After its initial enactment in 1966, FOIA was significantly amended in 1974, 1986, and 1996 and again in 2007 by the Openness Promotes Effectiveness in Our National Government Act (OPEN Government Act). From its inception, FOIA sought to balance four concerns: open access, privacy, necessary secrecy, and the government’s ability to obtain information. FOIA promotes access by giving all individuals a right to information. There is no requirement that they be properly and directly concerned with the information sought. By itself, FOIA is primarily a disclosure statute. However, it instructs and permits agencies to withhold substantial categories of information at their discretion. Basically, FOIA operates as follows. Activity is triggered by the submission of a FOIA request to an agency. Requests may be submitted by corporations and associations as well as by individuals. Foreigners may also request information. Today, agencies have twenty days (up from the original ten) to tell a requester whether the information sought will be released. This can be extended by ten days to channel the request to the proper agency unit.