Dear Andrew, I am truly grateful for the assistance with the links and advice. This is very helpful for my case. I owe you one too. Please let me know if I can be of any assistance regards research on law in India and the Commonwealth. Warm regards Venkat
-----Original Message----- From: Andrew Ecclestone [mailto:[email protected]] Sent: Thursday, December 10, 2009 12:15 AM To: Venkatesh Nayak Cc: foianet at foiadvocates.info Subject: Re: [foianet] request for information on guidelines for classifying and maintaining classified documents Dear Venkatesh, In New Zealand, you can access the 'Security in the Government Sector' document online: http://www.security.govt.nz/sigs/index.html The preface refers to other documents having been produced by the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (http://www.nzsis.govt.nz) and the Government Communications Security Bureau (http://www.gcsb.govt.nz/): "It would not be practical to attempt to include all detailed advice on matters of security in one manual. The New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (NZSIS) and the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) have produced supplementary manuals and documents intended for the guidance of Departmental Security Officers. These are the NZSIS "Protective Security Manual" (PSM) and the GCSB "New Zealand Security in Information Technology" (NZSIT) series." The GCSB document referred to above is here: http://www.gcsb.govt.nz/newsroom/nzsits/nzsit-402-feb08.pdf It has produced supplementary guidance on use of Blackberry devices, available here: http://www.gcsb.govt.nz/newsroom/security-notices/blackberry-nzgovt.pdf For all I know, it's produced more. I couldn't find the NZSIS "Protective Security Manual" online, but there are frequent web references to it having been published. This may only mean being published to those who have the appropriate security clearance though. There are other references to handing of official information by government officials in Chapter 8 of the Cabinet Manual, online here: http://cabinetmanual.cabinetoffice.govt.nz/8 Best wishes, Andrew On 9 Dec 2009, at 7:51 PM, Venkatesh Nayak wrote: Dear friends, I am litigating before India's Central Information Commission for the disclosure of the Manual of Departmental Security Instructions which contains the criteria and process for classifying documents 'secret', 'top secret', 'confidential' and 'restricted'. This manual is commonly used across the federal and provincial governments since 1965. But the manual istelf is a confidential document and is not accessible in the public domain despite a requirement of proactive disclosure of all manuals and instructions used by a public authority. I have argued that rules, procedures and executive instructions cannot be kept secret. The public authority in charge of issuing such instructions is arguing that disclosure will amount to revealing 'strategy' of the government to keep things secret in the public interest. I have argued that rules and instructions ordinarily do not constitute 'strategy' as they are commonly used across departments. Strategy is unique to tackling a specific case or problem.?The public authority is also agruing that nowehere in the world are such instructions made public. I do not think that is true. I have the theoretical arguments in support of disclosure but I also need to a few examples of international practice. I would be grateful if you could send me the links to the English version of rules and procedures that govern classification of documents in your countries. Please treat this as an urgent request as I have only 6 days to file my rejoinder. regards Venkatesh ? ? ?=
