The PLP and the Bermuda Government like to talk about their commitment to transparency and freedom of the press. But their actions undercut their claims. Bermudians woke up today (with the gunshots still ringing in their ears) to a daily newspaper that was also shot full of holes. It appears that the Royal Gazette was [...]
Entries Tagged as 'PATI'
Government Injunction Against the Media
December 16th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Media
Tags:FOIA·PATI·Press Freedom
PATI Retroactivity
December 4th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Accountability, Transparency
The Premier has taken an about-face on the issue of PATI retroactivity, commenting: “I wish to advise this honourable House that when I invite Cabinet’s further consideration of the bill it will contain a recommendation that it consider the issue of retroactivity. Personally, I wish it to be clearly understood that I am in favour [...]
Deliberate Distortion of Reality
December 1st, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Transparency
Senator Walton Brown is all over the news and talk radio decrying the public complaints about weaknesses in the draft PATI law as a “deliberate distortion of reality”. He went on to describe how the section to allow the Minister to amend the PATI law by regulation was only intended to simplify updates to the [...]
Deadline for PATI Input
November 30th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Transparency
This afternoon is the deadline for public input to the PATI “public access to information” bill. I encourage you to make a submission, no matter how brief. The PATI bill may be found here: Bermuda PATI Draft law [pdf] Bermuda PATI Consultation Handbook [pdf] Submissions should be directed to The Cabinet Secretary at pati@gov.bm. The [...]
International Input on PATI
October 27th, 2009 · 2 Comments · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Transparency
Article 19 has published a commentary on the proposed Bermuda freedom of information bill (aka public access to information or PATI). Article 19 is a highly-respected international human rights organisation with a specific focus on the defence and promotion of freedom of expression and freedom of information worldwide. While praising Bermuda for tackling PATI, they [...]
PATI Whistleblow
October 26th, 2009 · 1 Comment · Accountability, Bermuda Politics, Transparency
As widely reported, the Bermuda draft freedom of information law (aka PATI) allows great scope for Government to sit on information. For example, the law proposes a lengthy (2-3 year) implementation period and will only apply to information collected after its effective date. There is a long list of specific exemptions, as well as vague [...]
Public Access to Information
October 15th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Transparency
Six years after it was first announced by then-Premier Alex Scott, the Bermuda Government has published its draft freedom of information access (FOIA) law for public consultation. A successful public access to information law (PATI) would represent a significant step ahead in Bermuda’s development, so I encourage all Bermudians to read through it and to [...]
Tags:FOIA·freedom of information access·PATI·public access to information
Peek a PATI
July 9th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability, Transparency
The Premier announced yesterday that PATI legislation will be one of the first topics on the parliamentary schedule in November. That’s nice. Bermuda has been waiting for the promised freedom of information bill for a long time. The whole process behind Government’s efforts have been pretty stretched out and secretive – which goes against the [...]
PATI still alive
June 26th, 2009 · Comments Off · Transparency
I am glad to see something is still happening on Bermuda’s freedom of information effort. After so many years of lipservice, it’s time to get this on the legislative agenda. GEORGE TOWN, Cayman Islands (GIS) — Bermudian government officials reviewed Cayman’s experiences with Freedom of Information (FOI) during an official visit last week. The country’s [...]
Tags:cayman·Cayman Islands·FOIA·PATI
PATI at Work
May 11th, 2009 · Comments Off · Accountability
There’s a massive scandal in the UK where MPs have been found to “work the system” for extra payouts from the Government. It is deeply embarrassing to both parties, and will inevitably lead to reform in this area. It may interest you to know that the alleged sleaze was uncovered using requests under the UK [...]