A recent study published in Regulation & Governance found that German states that require government agencies to be proactive and helpful in providing records to the public are more likely to respond better to public record requests. 

The study looked at over 100,000 public records requests submitted to more than 7,000 public organizations in Germany from 2011 to 2021. The researchers, Julia Trautendorfer, Lisa Hohensinn and Dennis Hilgers, compared how different legal frameworks across Germany’s 16 states affected how quickly and thoroughly government agencies responded to these requests. 

The study focused on six key parts of FOI laws, such as fees and enforcement. They found that states with laws that emphasized transparency as a core value were more likely to lead to quicker and more complete responses. 

Interestingly, they found that states with ombudsman offices within government were less responsive to public records requests. No surprise there! Our hunch is ombudsman offices, often housed within attorneys general offices, and usually with no enforcement power, tend to side with government agencies, making access worse. 

German states don’t have independent enforcement agencies like we have in Connecticut, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Also, the study didn’t test whether mandatory fee shifting and stiff financial penalties are related to better response, which has been found in other research in the U.S. More work to be done! 

Posted: January 27, 2025
Category: Brechner News
Tagged as: Brechner FOI Project, Brechner Freedom of Information Project, FOI, FOIA, open records laws