You spin me right round? new proposals on openness in family courts

It seems that new proposals are soon to be announced with regard to increasing openness in the family courts (1). This has been an issue for debate for some years, with the Government shelving previous plans to increase transparency following a consultation in 2007. Last week, Sir Mark Potter (President of the Family Division of the High Court) signalled his support for greater openness in a very interesting interview with The Times.

Picture source.

'What did we tell ya'?: journalism based on FoI requests

The Campaign for Freedom of Information has published a report summarising the use by journalists of the FoI regime across 2006 and 2007. Specifically, it offers a precis of each story in which FoI requests - made by journalists themselves or by third parties - played a role.

The CFOI hopes to highlight the enormous range of information being released under the FoI regime, and hence the substantial contribution that it makes to public accountability of government. It has previously published an equivalent report covering 2005.

[Logo drawn from www.cfoi.org.uk]