The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13) was an
Act of the Scottish Parliament
An Act of the Scottish Parliament ( gd, Achd PĂ rlamaid na h-Alba) is primary legislation made by the Scottish Parliament. The power to create Acts was conferred to the Parliament by section 28 of the Scotland Act 1998 following the successfu ...
passed in 2002. It covers
public bodies
A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in so ...
over which the Scottish Parliament has
jurisdiction
Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels.
Jur ...
, fulfilling a similar purpose to the UK-level
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (c. 36) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation
...
. It, too, came into force at the beginning of 2005.
Not all public bodies situated in
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
fall under this remit - Scottish-based departments of the
Ministry of Defence
{{unsourced, date=February 2021
A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...
, for example, are not subject to the Scottish Parliament, and thus would be covered by the 2000 Act not the 2002 Act. Similarly the Scottish parts of UK-wide bodies such as the
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England.
The Forestry Commission was previously also respon ...
(which is headquartered in Scotland) are subject to the 2000 Act rather than the 2002 Act, even though they fall within the remit of the Scottish Parliament. The Act also created a
Scottish Information Commissioner
The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for the promotion and enforcement of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) and thEnvironmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004Scottish EIRs). The current Scottish Infor ...
, whose duties were similar to those of the
Information Commissioner, but limited to the bodies covered by the 2002 Act.
Whilst the two Acts are similar in principle, there are some significant differences in implementation; as a rule, the Scottish Act is more strongly worded. For example, the Scottish test for
public interest
The public interest is "the welfare or well-being of the general public" and society.
Overview
Economist Lok Sang Ho in his ''Public Policy and the Public Interest'' argues that the public interest must be assessed impartially and, therefore ...
is stated in terms of ''"substantial prejudice"'' rather than ''"prejudice"'', which is clearly a higher standard, and imposes a stricter time limit in cases where public interest has to be considered. It contains explicit mention of
disability access rights
The disability rights movement is a global social movement that seeks to secure equal opportunities and equal rights for all people with disabilities.
It is made up of organizations of disability activists, also known as disability advoca ...
and the duties incumbent on a body which does ''not'' have the information requested, both of which are lacking in the 2000 Act, and provides for an ''objective'' test (rather than "the reasonable opinion of a qualified person") to determine if the public interest means information should be withheld.
The 2002 Act established a Scottish Information Commissioner, but no
tribunal
A tribunal, generally, is any person or institution with authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes—whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title.
For example, an advocate who appears before a court with a single ...
; any appeals against the Commissioner would go to the
Court of Session
The Court of Session is the supreme civil court of Scotland and constitutes part of the College of Justice; the supreme criminal court of Scotland is the High Court of Justiciary. The Court of Session sits in Parliament House in Edinburgh ...
.
See also
*
Freedom of information in the United Kingdom
Freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom is controlled by two Acts of the United Kingdom and Scottish Parliaments respectively, which both came into force on 1 January 2005.
* Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the "2000 Act")
* Fr ...
*
Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2013
The Freedom of Information (Amendment) (Scotland) Act 2013 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament relating to freedom of information requests in Scotland. It amends the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
The Freedom of Information (Scotland ...
References
External links
Stationery Office text of the Freedom of Information (Scotland) 2002 ActRecent FOI disclosures by the Scottish GovernmentScottish Information Commissioner website - with quick step guides and information for individuals and public bodies relating to the Freedom of Information Act
{{UK legislation
Acts of the Scottish Parliament 2002
Government of Scotland
Data laws of the United Kingdom
Freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom