30 December 2014, 20:31 GMT
MOSCOW, December 31 (Sputnik) — Over 400,000 requests have been made since the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) was introduced in 2005 in the United Kingdom, The Guardian reported Wednesday, citing the Justice Ministry.
The newspaper said that there has been a steady increase in the number of requests since 2007, and that now about 1,000 requests are received weekly.
The act, which is administered by the Justice Ministry, allows British citizens to access information at any public authority licensed to provide such services.
UK Justice Minister Simon Hughes was quoted by The Guardian as saying that the FOI “is a fundamental right of all citizens to be able to hold their government to account and that is why transparency is vital.”
The Freedom of Information Act, developed by Labour Party politician David Clark in 1997, was passed by the UK Parliament in 2000 and came into force in 2005.
