Freedom of Information Act
E8206
The Freedom of Information Act is a U.S. law that grants the public the right to access records from federal government agencies, promoting transparency and accountability.
Aliases (4)
Statements (51)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
United States federal law
→
freedom of information law → |
| administeredBy |
U.S. Department of Justice Office of Information Policy
→
|
| allows |
administrative appeals of adverse agency determinations
→
judicial review in federal court → recovery of attorneys’ fees for prevailing FOIA plaintiffs → |
| amendedBy |
Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996
→
FOIA Improvement Act of 2016 → Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1974 → OPEN Government Act of 2007 → |
| appliesTo |
federal executive branch agencies
→
|
| codifiedIn |
Title 5 of the United States Code
→
|
| codifiedSection |
5 U.S.C. § 552
→
|
| contains |
nine exemptions from disclosure
→
three exclusions for law enforcement records → |
| country |
United States
→
|
| dateSigned |
1966-07-04
→
|
| defaultRule |
agency records are accessible unless exempt
→
|
| doesNotApplyTo |
Congress
→
federal courts → state governments → |
| effectiveDate |
1967-07-04
→
|
| enactedBy |
United States Congress
→
|
| enforcementMechanism |
civil actions in U.S. district courts
→
|
| exemption |
certain law enforcement records
→
geological and geophysical information concerning wells → information exempted by other statutes → information on regulation of financial institutions → inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda → internal agency rules and practices → national security information → personal privacy information → trade secrets and confidential commercial information → |
| grantsRight |
right of access to federal agency records
→
|
| influenced |
freedom of information legislation in other countries
→
state freedom of information laws in the United States → |
| introducedConcept |
electronic reading rooms for frequently requested records
→
|
| primaryPurpose |
to grant the public the right to access records from federal agencies
→
to promote government accountability → to promote government transparency → |
| relatedTo |
Government in the Sunshine Act
→
Open Government laws → Privacy Act of 1974 → |
| requires |
agencies to conduct reasonable searches for requested records
→
agencies to respond to FOIA requests within statutory time limits → |
| shortName |
FOIA
→
|
| signedBy |
Lyndon B. Johnson
→
|
| subjectTo |
presumption of openness in disclosure decisions
→
|
| typicalUse |
academic research
→
journalistic investigations → public interest advocacy → |