Author Archives: Sean Whittaker
Uncovering the Environment: The Use of Public Access to Environmental Information Summary Report
A key output of the “Uncovering the Environment: The Use of Public Access to Environmental Information” project was the publication of a report summarising the project’s findings on how the right of access to environmental information was implemented and utilised … Continue reading
University of Dundee Seeking PhD Proposals on Freedom of Information Law
Building on the findings of this project, the University of Dundee has opened applications for students to work under Professor Reid and staff members from the School of Business to conduct doctoral research on freedom of information and its application … Continue reading
Information is Power: How Public Authorities and Freedom of Information Officers Perceive Their Power in Relation to the Right to Access Environmental Information
In the first part of this series of blog posts we discussed how users of the right of access to environmental information in Scotland perceived themselves to be less powerful than Scottish public authorities under the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations … Continue reading
Presentation of Oral Evidence to the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee
On 3 October 2019 Professor Colin Reid presented oral evidence to the Public Audit and Post-Legislative Scrutiny Committee regarding the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. This evidence was based on the project’s current findings, and focused on the connections … Continue reading
Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference 2019
On 3 September 2019 Professor Reid and Dr Whittaker presented on the emerging findings of the project at the Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference 2019 in Preston, United Kingdom. The presentation focused on discussing the aims and emerging findings … Continue reading
The Perception of Power From Users of the Right to Environmental Information
The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations (the Regulations) are concerned with the disclosure of environmental information. This, in turn, raises questions on the power exercised by those who hold such information. In a previous post we noted how both users of … Continue reading
The Limited Use of Internal Review Procedures: Parallels with Other Review Regimes
In a previous post we have considered why requesters who have not received all of the information they requested or received a late response decided to not utilise the internal review procedure. The lack of internal reviews from this category … Continue reading
ISSR Forum Presentation – 24 June 2019
On 24 June 2019 Dr Mendel presented some of the project’s emerging findings to the Institute for Social Sciences Research Forum’s Annual Conference, which brought together various interdisciplinary academics in the University of Dundee. Dr Mendel discussed the lack of … Continue reading
Interactive Q&A Session at the Center for Freedom of Information Annual Conference, University of Dundee
On 29 May 2019 the research team hosted an interactive Q&A panel at the Center for Freedom of Information Annual Conference, The Conference was hosted by the University of Dundee, and was attended by a range of Scottish public authorities and … Continue reading
Power and the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
Holding information not available to others is a common way of exercising power, but it has special significance in the context of environmental issues. It is in this context that the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 (the Regulations) aims to … Continue reading