Subjects:

Human Rights and Civil Liberties, Data Protection

Contents:

1. Introduction and background to the law - Clifford Chance

2. Publications schemes - Clifford Chance

3. The right of access - Charles Russell

4. Exemptions - absolute - Field Fisher Waterhouse

5. Exemptions - qualified - Field Fisher Waterhouse

6. The public interest test - Field Fisher Waterhouse

7. Implications for the private sector - Matrix Chambers

8. Implications for the media - Reynolds Porter Chamberlain

9. The relationship between freedom of information and data protection - Matrix Chambers

10. Environmental information regulations - Herbert Smith

11. Enforcement and appeals - Clifford Chance

This is a practical guide to the application of the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) 2000 which came into force on 1st January 2005 after a period of consultation and the development of appropriate systems and procedures for public bodies.

Fully up-to-date the book covers: requests for disclosure of information and how these operate across public bodies, including central government departments, local government, the police, the health service (including hospital trusts), education authorities, higher education institutions, regulators and quangos - clear and practical guidance on the actual process of information requests - why and how information may be withheld under the Act's many absolute and qualified exemptions - the 'public interest test' and its application - model publication schemes - how businesses may operate in the context of the Act- the protection and accessing of commercially sensitive information.

Written by a team of leading practitioners, the book focuses on the 'nuts and bolts' of accessing and disclosing information under the new FOI regime.;Dealing in detail with the needs of public authorities and interested commercial parties, the book provides essential and timely advice to both legal practitioners and information professionals.