Did you know that?

I didnât know it until I talked with that top government official who I praised in a recent column.

He said previously heâs always worked in jurisdictions with such legislation, and itâs really ãdifferentä here without it. Thatâs one reason I canât tell you who I talked to, and itâs another reason that we only know the policemen who allegedly are being investigated in reference to drug activities by the letters A, B, C, and D.

Iâve been told by a ãknowledgeable sourceä÷ I canât say who either ÷ that the accused four are on ãpaid leave.ä (I wondered, didnât you?). The good news is that government reportedly upped ãpaid leaveä during investigations from 2/3 to full pay. After all, ãthey ÷ the accused ÷ have responsibilities,ä I was reminded.

I hope that if youâre accused of something you get ãpaid leaveä too. Iâm sure that you, also, have responsibilities.

Meanwhile, what are FOI Laws, who has them, and why are they needed?

Transparency

Because, according to Maurice Frankel, director of the Campaign for Freedom of Information, located in London, England, ãTransparency is the key way to deter and detect corruption and to safeguard the integrity of government.ä

Iâve noticed that when Iâve tried to obtain some information for this column and for my own interest, Iâve found, not only that the information was not forthcoming, but that some folks are shocked that I even asked, and often even afraid.

Well, my confusion occurred because as a journalist in the U.S., I operated under an existing FOI Act. I thought the whole world was like that! They have long been in place in Canada, the U.S., Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, Sweden, Thailand, Japan, and so many others).

I often wondered when I read the local papers why some things were so vague ÷ except, perhaps, the look on the face of the horse on Front Street when it allegedly was ãmolested.ä I guess horses arenât as protected as Government agencies and other humans. And neither, apparently, are some of the disgusting details of sex crimes.

FOI is a given in most countries ÷ more than 20 now have laws providing the public with a general right of access to government records.

Itâs also a right which the individual exercises directly. People seeking information do not have to persuade an elected representative to ask questions for them, search for a lawyer willing to waive his or her fees, or hope that their situation involves the peculiar characteristics that the press deems newsworthy.

It is a free-standing right, which the ordinary citizen uses in his or her own name. Moreover, youâre not required to justify your request or demonstrate any kind of ãneed to know.ä The burden of proof is on the public authority to justify withholding the information. The only precondition may be that the applicant be a citizen or permanent resident· although some countries even allow ãany personä right of access.

The U.S. Dept. of Justice summed up the purpose of FOI: ãto check against corruption and to hold the governors accountable to the governed.ä

And politicians themselves may use the information! Good news! Some 200 requests reportedly are made per year by MPs in Ireland. And Canadaâs Information Commissioner has reported that ãmore members of Parliament than ever before are using the access law· It did not take· (Opposition) parties long to learnä benefits of FOI in terms of honesty÷their own and their adversaries!

So what do you want, Bermudians?

An attorney friend of mine (who I canât name ÷you know why!) said that he receives ãstoriesä every day to review to prevent libel. Heâs busy. He doesnât need that business.

With a good FOI law, any journalist worth his or her salt ÷ and they are worth more than that in Bermuda ÷ will help Bermudians become more knowledgeable.