Date published:
Landmark legislation to reform the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) has been adopted by the United States, including the creation of the Office of Government Information Services (OGIS) to function as a FOIA ombudsman.
The law, which passed both houses of the U.S. Congress in December 2007 with bipartisan support after several years of negotiation, aims to fix some of the most persistent problems in the FOIA system, including excessive delay, lack of responsiveness and litigation gamesmanship by federal agencies. It specifies penalties for agency delay and changes to the definition of "news media."
The law, which passed both houses of the U.S. Congress in December 2007 with bipartisan support after several years of negotiation, aims to fix some of the most persistent problems in the FOIA system, including excessive delay, lack of responsiveness and litigation gamesmanship by federal agencies. It specifies penalties for agency delay and changes to the definition of "news media."
To access the U.S. Department of Justice FOIA Web pages, including annual FOIA reports and instructions on how to make a FOIA request, see: http://www.usdoj.gov/oip/.
More information about the legislative reform are available at http://www.freedominfo.org.
[Source: Freedominfo.org]
