The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (asp 13) was an

Act of the Scottish Parliament An Act of the Scottish Parliament ( gd, Achd Pàrlamaid 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 success ...

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. J ...

, 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 in ...

. 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 ...

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 state ...

, 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 resp ...

(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, therefor ...

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 advocate ...

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 Edinburg ...

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

See also

References

External links