Article

6 March 2014

US House Approves Bill to Improve FOIA Operations

By Freedominfo.org The US House Feb. 25 voted 410-0 to pass a bill (H.R. 1211) intended to improve the operation of the Freedom of Information Act. No similar bill exists in the Senate, but the Senate Judiciary Committee is planning to hold a hearing on FOIA on March 11. FOIA advocates are hoping that a Senate bill will deal not only with process issues, but also make more fundamental changes regarding exemptions that are considered too restrictive. The House FOIA Oversight and Im

6 March 2014

Third Forum of Open Government Partnership

On March 5, Ministry of Justice hosted the third Open Government Partnership forum.

5 March 2014

IDFI was mentioned in the annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices by U.S. Department of State for the second time

Country Report on Human Rights Practices by U.S. Department of State: Georgia The research conducted by IDFI has been mentioned in the annual Country Report on Human Rights Practices by U.S. Department of State for the second time (see the 2012 report). The annual country reports are prepared based on facts provided by U.S. embassies and posts worldwide and give comprehensive overview of human rights in almost 200 countries. The reports are widely used by U.S. government in

28 February 2014

Round table meeting – OGP Implementation- E-request of Public Information and Proactive Disclosure

On February 26 2014 Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) with the financial support of USAID program Good Governance in Georgia (G-3) organized a round table meeting concerning the issue of OGP Implementation- E-request of Public Information and Proactive Disclosure. The meeting was attended by the representatives of the administration of the President, Ministries, other public institutions and NGOs. The meeting was opened by the chief of party of USAID program G

28 February 2014

The renewed opendata.ge has been launched

The renewed opendata.ge has been launched on February 27, 2014 the most voluminous online database in Georgia. The portal serves to improve level of transparency and accountability of the government. By the initiative of OSGF, opendata.ge has been transformed into a single portal of NGOs involved in promoting freedom of information and since now, it will unite public information requested and collected by Institute for Development and Freedom of Information (IDFI), Georgian Young L

14 February 2014

Working on the Georgia’s New Law on Freedom of Information is in Progress

Ministry of Justice of Georgia in cooperation with the Open Society Georgia Foundation and engagement of experts and non-governmental organizations has commenced working on elaborating the separate law on freedom of information. The freedom of information draft law was discussed by the experts on the February 13 meeting held in Courtyard Marriot. The new law intends to unite all the freedom of information regulating normative acts in one law which will establish the new standard

14 February 2014

OGP published IRM Report Regarding Georgia

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) has officially published the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) reports of implementation of the Action Plan of Georgia of the so called second cohort countries (i.e. countries that joined OGP in April 2012). Among these was the report regarding Georgia, written by an independent expert from Transparency International – Georgia, Lasha Gogidze.

12 February 2014

Digital Broadcasting Switchover Strategy - Preconditions of Formation Better Media Environment

On February 7, 2014, the government of Georgia approved an “Action Plan and Recommendations for Switchover to Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting”. Drafting of the final document was preceded by a long process of negotiations between governmental bodies and NGO-s concerning main components of the action plan, technical standards and legislative regulations connected to the digital switchover.

11 February 2014

Open Government Partnership Georgia Second Forum

On February 5th Ministry of Justice hosted the second Forum of Open Government Partnership (OGP).

29 January 2014

IDFI’s Russian Partner Organization FIF was declared as a foreign agent

Prosecutors office evaluated the activities of IDFIs Russian Partner - Freedom of Information Foundation (St. Petersburg) as political activity and requested the elimination of violations of the law of non-profit organizations. Statement of the foundation regarding this issue was published on the web-site of organization on January 28 (www.svobodainfo.org). On January 27, 2014 Freedom of Information Foundation received the prosecutors supervisory act from the Central Prosecutors Office of