The Campaign has joined ARTICLE 19 and the Access to Information Programme (Bulgaria) in a joint intervention in a European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) case involving GCHQ. GCHQ, like other security bodies, is not covered by the UK FOI Act. Information which public authorities hold about, or which has been supplied by, security bodies is protected by an absolute exemption.
The case has been brought by Privacy International and follows a recent decision of the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR that Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides a right to information from public authorities. The right applies to information requested by someone acting in a ‘social watchdog’ role seeking to contribute to public debate on a matter of public interest. The joint intervention argues that the UK’s blanket ban on any FOI disclosure of any kind about the security services in all circumstances is disproportionate and so breaches Article 10. It includes an analysis by the Campaign of the position of security services under the FOI laws of 44 Council of Europe states (paragraphs 41-58).
The Campaign took part in an event on 8th December 2016 to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the world’s first ever freedom of information law, adopted in 1766 by Sweden and Finland which at the time were one country. The event was hosted by ARTICLE 19, the Embassy of Sweden, the Embassy of Finland and the Information Law and Policy Centre at the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.