Two new FOI publications

JISC Legal has recently released two update papers on Freedom of Information (FOI).

The first is a short ‘essentials’ paper giving a summary of the main provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and highlighting what colleges and universities need to consider in order to comply with the Act.

The second is much a longer paper which they term ‘overview’ but is really quite detailed. This gives a fuller explanation of the responsibilities of public authorities, publication schemes, requests for information, and the exemptions to these. It also touches on related legislation such as the Environmental Information Regulations and Data Protection.

( FYI - the DCC will publish a Legal Watch paper on the Environmental Information Regulations towards the end of this year. There is already a briefing paper on Data Protection in the Resources section of the DCC website as well as an older one on FOI).

For those of you who don’t know about it, a bit more info on JISC Legal.
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The JISC Legal Information service is funded by the JISC (the Joint Information Systems Committee) and hosted by Strathclyde University
The principle aims of the service are:
1. To disseminate information and to raise awareness of the legal issues relating to the use of information technology particularly with reference to the following:
• Data Protection
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Human Rights
• Freedom of Information
• Disability and The Law
• E-Security (Monitoring and Encryption)
• Cyber-crime and Criminal Liability
• ISP (Internet Service Provider) Liability

2. To follow relevant court cases and legislative developments within the United Kingdom (and where relevant internationally) and examine the effect such developments may have on the sector.

3. To co-ordinate and liaise with FE and HE organisations, relevant regulatory bodies, projects and studies in areas related to the remit of the service.

Check out their website for lots of useful IT-related legal information.