Ebook: Information Rights: Law and Practice

This is the fourth edition of what is the leading practitioners' text on freedom of information law. Providing in-depth legal analysis and practical guidance, the book offers complete authoritative coverage for anyone either making, handling, or adjudicating upon requests for official information. The three years since the previous edition have seen numerous important decisions from courts and tribunals. These and earlier authorities supply the basis for clear statements of principle, which the book supports by reference to all relevant cases, and it is logically organized so that the practitioner can quickly locate the relevant text.

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This third edition of Information Rights: Law and Practice maintains its authorship of expert lawyers. In the two years since the last edition - previously published by Sweet & Maxwell - there have been numerous important decisions from the UK's courts and from the Information Tribunal on freedom of information law. The learning from all these has been incorporated into the text, enabling a practitioner to see immediately all relevant UK cases and the principles that emerge from them. The book is logically organized so that the practitioner can quickly find the topic of choice. The work commences with an historical analysis that sets out the object of the legislation and its relationship with other aspects of public law. Full references to Hansard and other Parliamentary materials is provided. This is followed by a summary of the regime in five comparative jurisdictions, providing a useful testbed for anticipated effects of disclosure and a normative yardstick. The impact of the Human Rights Act 1998 is given separate consideration. Next follows a series of chapters dealing with rights of access under provisions apart from the Freedom of Information Act: access to information held by EU bodies, access to information under the Data Protection Act, access to information under the Environmental Information Regulations, public records, and access under numerous other provisions in legislation. Together, these provide the practitioner with sources of access that might otherwise be overlooked. All are arranged thematically. Throughout the book, full web references are given, facilitating ready access to primary material. It provides in-depth legal analysis and practical guidance, and will be the first port of call for anyone either seeking or handling requests for official information. It will be of interest to public authorities, legal advisors, and journalists.