FOI for Bermuda?

Bermuda is a small British Overseas Territory, located off the east coast of the United States.

A Bermuda newspaper, The Royal Gazette, has been running a campaign, called ‘A Right to Know – Giving People Power’, which supports the introduction of freedom of information law (FOI) within British Overseas Territories.

Bill Zuill, editor of the newspaper has said:

While it may be logical to assume that access to information in small jurisdictions like Bermuda would be easier than it is in larger countries, the opposite is often true as those in positions of power will often guard information quite jealously. There are times when there are privacy issues at stake, but often in a small community this is used as a reason for not making information public, when in fact no harm would be done, or when the public interest outweighs rights to privacy.

A cross-party group of British MPs, who heard from Mr Zuill during a recent inquiry into the governance of Overseas Territories, have agreed that FOI should be considered throughout the Territories.

Notably, the Bermuda Government has said it is working on a Public Access to Information Act.