The workings of government

Blackstone's Guide to the Freedom of Information Act 2000By John Wadham, Jonathan Griffiths & Bethan Rigby 23.95Amber Melville-Brown'What's in a name?' Shakespeare once asked.

Well, quite a lot if the Freedom of Information Act 2000 is anything to go by.

On the face of it, this Act turns data protection into data access, providing a right of access to information held by a wide range of public authorities.

An analysis of the Act in this book - given weight by solicitor John Wadham, the director of Liberty - may show if indeed this is the case.The Act received Royal Assent on 30 November 2000 and is coming into force in stages over the next five years.

The foreword, written by Elizabeth France - the erstwhile Data Protection Commissioner now, thanks to the Act, renamed the Information Commissioner - explains that '[In] setting out to explain the Act and its context, this book contributes to the learning process which all of us who have an interest in it are now undergoing.'This book is not weighty.

Indeed, the second half is taken up with appendices, including the Act itself, draft codes of practice and extracts from Hansard.

This is probably because the Act is still in its infancy.

Is it therefore a little premature? No doubt further, more discursive, editions will be produced as it develops.The work begins with the rationale behind the legislation - 'to improve democratic processes by giving the public greater access to information about the workings of government'.

It then sets this in the context of freedom of information elsewhere; the UK is tail-end Charlie, with no fewer than 14 other countries beating us to it.There follows an analysis of the Act and its procedures, the rights it grants, to whom they are granted and how those rights can be utilised, with notably more pages set aside for the exemptions that apply.

Perhaps not so much of a Freedom Act as a Protection Act after all, then?While Elizabeth France comments that 'individuals need to be aware of their new rights and have the confidence to use them', it is unlikely, given the newness of this area of law, that much confidence will be imbued before the Act has settled in.Amber Melville-Brown is head of defamation at London firm Finers Stephens Innocent