Latest news with #governmentAccountability
Malay Mail
5 days ago
- Politics
- Malay Mail
If Anwar's constitutional questions are preposterous, absurd and legal nonsense, let the court say it — Hafiz Hassan
JUNE 6 — Cornell Law School offers an insightful read on qualified immunity. It says that qualified immunity is a type of legal immunity that protects a government official from lawsuits alleging that the official violated a plaintiff's rights, only allowing suits where officials violated a 'clearly established' statutory or constitutional right. A plaintiff is the party who sues in a civil suit. A defendant is the party sued. It says further that qualified immunity balances two important interests—the need to hold public officials accountable when they exercise power irresponsibly and the need to shield officials from harassment, distraction, and liability when they perform their duties reasonably. (Emphasis added) When determining whether a right was 'clearly established,' courts in the US consider whether a hypothetical reasonable official would have known that the defendant's conduct violated the plaintiff's rights. Courts conducting this analysis apply the law that was in force at the time of the alleged violation, not the law in effect when the court considers the case. Qualified immunity is not immunity from having to pay money damages , but rather immunity from having to go through the costs of a trial at all. (Emphasis added) Accordingly, courts must resolve qualified immunity issues as early in a case as possible, preferably before discovery. Qualified immunity only applies to suits against government officials as individuals, not suits against the government for damages caused by the officials' actions. (Emphasis added) Although qualified immunity frequently appears in cases involving police officers, it also applies to most other executive branch officials. Does qualified immunity apply to a prime minister in Malaysia? That's the constitutional question proposed to be referred by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim for a ruling by the Federal Court. Some, even from the legal fraternity, have vilified Anwar and his legal team for the proposed constitutional questions which have been called preposterous, absurd and 'legal nonsense'. But if they are such, let the court having the ultimate authority say it.
CTV News
10-05-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Privacy commission finds Alberta government failed to follow freedom of information laws
Alberta's privacy commissioner says the UCP has been breaking the rules around freedom of information requests. Alberta's privacy commissioner says the UCP has been breaking the rules around freedom of information requests. Alberta's privacy commissioner said the Government of Alberta has failed in multiple ways to uphold freedom of information policies. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP) was passed in 1995 and requires all public bodies, including government bodies, to make eligible information available to the public. 'Access to information rights are the foundation of an individual's ability to exercise their democratic rights by facilitating access to government information,' said Diane McLeod, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Alberta, in a report on her findings. 'Accountability is the cornerstone of the exercise of good governance,' she continued. 'Acting accountably within the context of the FOIP Act requires that government administer its responsibilities under the FOIP Act in a manner that not only respects these rights but also adheres to the spirit and intent of the Act.' The report details an investigation launched in regards to 34 requests for review filed over alleged refusals to process access requests by Alberta government public bodies. It found 27 Government of Alberta public bodies failed to uphold FOIP principals, with violations including: Refusing access requests on the basis applicants didn't provide enough information; Requiring applicants to limit the number of topics in a request to one; Limiting the time frame on the search for records; and Requiring applications to split requests containing multiple topics into multiple requests. McLeod also found the Government of Alberta had issued directives and policies that allowed staff to refuse access requests in a way not permitted under the FOIP act. The privacy commissioner made several recommendations to resolve the issues she found and said she expects them to be followed, despite provincial plans to repeal the FOIP act and replace it with the Access to Information Act. 'My findings and recommendations in this report are in large part still valid under the new legislation. This is because the relevant provisions of the new Act are the same or substantially similar to the provisions of the FOIP Act,' McLeod said. 'For that reason, I expect government public bodies to apply my findings and recommendations to their practices under both the existing and the new legislation.' In an email to The Canadian Press, a spokesperson for Service Alberta Minister Dale Nally said the ministry is considering the privacy commissioner's findings and plans to work with McLeod to address concerns. The full report can be accessed here.
CBC
09-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Investigation finds Alberta government broke its own freedom of information rules
Alberta's access to information watchdog has found the provincial government to be non-compliant with its own freedom of information rules. A new report from information and privacy commissioner Diane McLeod says Alberta's government has implemented internal procedures and policy that allow government employees to wrongfully deny freedom of information requests. It says the government has put unnecessary restrictions and limitations on requests in an attempt to make fulfilling them easier. But McLeod says the restrictions make the process unfair for those seeking information and violate the rules set out in legislation. McLeod's report follows a two-year investigation and says all 27 government departments were found to be at fault. The report recommends the government make a number of changes to its internal policies to stop refusing requests unnecessarily.
