Freedom of information laws by country detail legislation that gives access by the general public to data held by national governments. They establish a "right-to-know" legal process by which requests may be made for government-held information, to be received freely or at minimal cost, barring standard exceptions. Also variously referred to as open records, or sunshine laws (in the United States), governments are also typically bound by a duty to publish and promote openness. In many countries there are constitutional guarantees for the right of access to information, but usually these are unused if specific support legislation does not exist.
Read more about Freedom Of Information Laws By Country: Introduction, Pending Legislation By Country
Famous quotes containing the words freedom, information, laws and/or country:
“Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.”
—Vladimir Ilyich Lenin (1870–1924)
“When action grows unprofitable, gather information; when information grows unprofitable, sleep.”
—Ursula K. Le Guin (b. 1929)
“I have not yet learned to live, that I can see, and I fear that I shall not very soon. I find, however, that in the long run things correspond to my original idea,—that they correspond to nothing else so much; and thus a man may really be a true prophet without any great exertion. The day is never so dark, nor the night even, but that the laws at least of light still prevail, and so may make it light in our minds if they are open to the truth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The emotional security and political stability in this country entitle us to be a nuclear power.”
—Ronald, Sir Mason (b. 1930)