ABSTRACT
To what extent will freedom of information legislation have a radical effect on government in the UK? Discuss with reference to recent developments.
Answer plan
This is clearly quite a specific topic which calls for an answer confined to the recent developments, rather than a general and wide ranging answer looking at the whole area of government secrecy. Obviously, a substantial part of the essay must be devoted to differences between the voluntary Code and the new statute. Essentially, the following areas should be considered: • freedom of information measures in other countries,
specifically Canada and the US; • the Security Services Act 1989, the Official Secrets Act 1989,
the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and the Interception of Communications Act 1985;
• the voluntary Code on access to information; • comparison between the Code and a statutory right of access; • the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
