Legal Leaks Toolkit

This toolkit from Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Access Info Europe, and n-ost, Network for Reporting on Eastern Europe, is designed for journalists working in any media - newspapers, radio, television, and blogging - and other information professionals who need to get access to information held by public bodies for their stories.

The toolkit supports journalists making an information request in their own country or considering filing a request in another country. It is based on a comparative analysis of the access to information of the 40 countries of the Council of Europe region which have laws on information access. The toolkit includes references where national law or practice deviates from the normal access to information standards. More detailed information on national law is provided in links, given in the toolkit's Annex B, to each of the national access to information laws and, in Annex C, to the relevant oversight body (Information Commission or Ombudsman), where they exist, who should be able to provide more information about the national access to information framework.

Structure of the Toolkit from the website:

"The Introduction presents the Legal Leaks Toolkit and aims to answer the first question that journalist reading it may have: is this toolkit relevant for me?

Section I takes you through filing a request, step-by-step, and includes some strategies on how journalists can integrate filing requests for information into their work, whether it be day-to-day reporting or long-term, in depth investigations.

Section II of the toolkit explains the basic stuff you need to know about how to use the right of access to information in countries which have access to information laws. It is based on the analysis of the 40 countries in the Council of Europe region (out of 47 countries) which have access to information laws).

Annexes:
Annex A: Overview of Access to Information Laws around the world Annex B: European Access to Information Laws - basic data (40 countries) Annex C: Scope of the Right to Information (26 countries) Annex D: Appeals and Oversight procedures (40 countries) Annex E: Time frames (40 countries)"