‘The Constitution should not include a right to information’- HoA position
The Lisa E. Penn-Lettsome-led Constitutional Review Commission recommended that the Constitution should include a provision requiring the enactment of Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation, recognising public access to information as important for transparency and accountability.
However, the Fifth House of Assembly rejected this position. Instead, they give an alternative position. The HoA Committee of the whole House agreed that freedom of information should be advanced through legislation rather than constitutional amendments, and that the Constitution should not include a right to information or a constitutional requirement for an FOI regime.
Rationale
Members reaffirmed the importance of transparency and public access to information, but considered that the detailed design of a FOI regime should stay within the legislative domain. Elected Members, in their deliberations of the Penn-Lettsome report, observed that FOI requires practical flexibility to adapt to changing administrative capacities and evolving governance requirements, including decisions about institutional placement, resourcing, and implementation arrangements. As a result, constitutionally embedding an FOI framework was seen by Members as unnecessary and potentially restrictive.
The Premier is yet to announce his negotiating team.
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12 Responses to “‘The Constitution should not include a right to information’- HoA position”
Moreover, there should and will be limits on what information can be released. For example, there will be limits on national security information, law enforcement issues,,issues under investigation, residents privacy issues, etc.
Further, the UK controls what will be included in the constitution. Inclusion will be consistent with the dependency-modelled, boilerplate, OT model. In the end , the UK will have unilateral power consistent with the colonialism order——Control. Is it time to shed the the training wheels?