The Law
This section of the website provides information about freedom of information law in Scotland. There are a number of pieces of legislation which govern access to information, which apply in Scotland.
- The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 (FOISA) is an Act of the Scottish Parliament which gives everyone the right to ask for any information held by a Scottish public authority.
- The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations (the EIRs) come from a European Directive on access to environmental information. The EIRs give everyone the right to ask for environmental information held by a Scottish public authority (and some other bodies).
Both FOISA and the EIRs came into effect on 1 January 2005. The Scottish Information Commissioner is responsible for enforcing and promoting both these regimes for access to information. Both these pieces of legislation apply only in Scotland - there is equivalent legislation which covers the rest of the UK, which is enforced and promoted by the UK Information Commissioner.
What about personal information?
Access to personal information is governed by the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), which applies to the whole of the UK. The DPA is NOT enforced by the Scottish Information Commissioner. Instead, it is enforced and promoted by the UK Information Commissioner. If you want to find out more about personal information and the DPA, contact the The UK Information Commissioner.
Guidance on FOISA and the EIRs
In this section of the website, you can find the Scottish Information Commissioner's extensive guidance on the exemptions in FOISA, guidance on environmental information and the EIRs, and links to the legislation and Codes of Practice.
The Your Rights section of this website provides plain language guidance about your rights to access public and environmental information.
If you can't find what you're looking for here, please contact us. We are pleased to provide advice about freedom of information laws by phone, letter or email.