Hi. I have been impressed by blog sites like those of Matthew Moore, Steve Woods and Peter Timmins and decided to try add my voice and ideas to their contributions.
I have also created a web site to try and improve the access to my articles and other FOI and access resources. The website trys to link my various activities and interests. See http://ricksnell.com.au/
I see this blog as a means of developing ideas and engaging in dialogue with other people interested in access and information. Based in Tasmania has limited my engagement with the wider network of academics, advocates and others interested in these issues. Being a one finger typist restricts my ability to use email easily for free flowing discussion especially with more than one correspondent at the same time. So hpefully this blog can be used to reach out to a wider network.
Till now I have used my articles and talks to generate this conversation but I am keen to add a more informal and collaborative layer to this discussion.
4 comments:
Good on you Rick for creating this...your voice is always worth listening to. Look forward to dipping in and out of this blog in addition to the others you mention. Greetings from a cold and snowy Kiev, where I'm just about to discuss FOI with Ukrainian journalism instructors from various universities who want to beef up their media law courses,
David Goldberg
Great to see the new blog - I look forward to lots of thought-provoking entries. The more FOI info online, the merrier!
Thanks Megan and David. I hope it can live up to your expectations.
Rick - It's John Fizgerald - who took over your PPL class while you were on sabbatical a few years back.
NEWS
I have some news which I hope you regard as good news. Thomson legal publishers have commissioned me to update their FOI chapter in Laws of Australia.
TLA's audience are practitioners who want a concise and accurate statement of the law on the "essentials" of the topic. So my approach must be more "black letter law" than policy discussion.
I have been working on the project for about a month now.The present text was last reviewed 10 years ago. Thomsons want the manuscipt by May/June this year. I expect that the revision will be published towards the end of this year.
MY THOUGHTS ONE: "SHAPE"
My present thought on the eventual "shape" of the revision is that common interpretative issues which have emerged from the body of case law should be emphasised. For example the issue of how the objects clause should be applied seems to be quite common. Another example is the issue of how "public interest" should be applied.
MY THOUGHTS TWO: AUTHORITIES
More emphasis on the views of courts at the expense of the views of tribunals.
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