Freedom of information (FOI) laws allow private citizens to request data from public authorities. It also requires these agencies to publish certain information in the public interest on a regular basis. To understand the underlying data that contributes to these public reports, one has to file a request. People also make requests for information that they suspect is not published

Meehan, Elizabeth

LSE Research Online

27/06/2017 LSE Undergraduate Political Review – Is “freedom of information” a viable research tool? Step One: Composing a Requesthttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseupr/2015/12/14/is-freedom-of-information-a-viable-research-tool-step-one-composing-a-request/ 1/3Is “freedom of information” a viable research tool? Step One:Composing a RequestElizabeth Meehan (Undergraduate at Northwestern University & General Course student, LSE)Image rights: Lay Sheng Yap (BSc Government and Economics)Is “freedom of information” a viableresearch tool? Step One: Composing a RequestFreedom of information (FOI) laws allow private citizens to request data from public authorities.It also requires these agencies to publish certain information in the public interest on a regularbasis. To understand the underlying data that contributes to these public reports, one has to file arequest. People also make requests for information that they suspect is not published.Many news outlets have used FOI laws in their investigative reporting, but very few scholars haveused it for academic research.Therefore, I am using FOI as both the methodology and as the data source for my research. Ihave completed the first stage (of what will hopefully only be three stages) of filing a FOI request.Through this series of three blog posts, I hope to shed light on an underutilised tool that’s notstatistics or case-study based and to document its unique difficulties.27/06/2017 LSE Undergraduate Political Review – Is “freedom of information” a viable research tool? Step One: Composing a Requesthttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseupr/2015/12/14/is-freedom-of-information-a-viable-research-tool-step-one-composing-a-request/ 2/3My ResearchI have had the fortune of working as a research assistant for Jacqueline Stevens, a politicalscience professor at Northwestern University, whose research centres on the deportation of UScitizens. Her focus has shifted towards using “forensic intelligence [which] discovers, elicits, andproduces knowledge of law and force with the ultimate objective of thwarting injustice”[1]. We aretrying to ensure that immigrants and US citizens alike receive due process in immigration courtproceedings. Freedom of information requests are the main tool that we have used to practice this“forensic intelligence.”For instance, we utilised a request made by the American Immigration Lawyers’ Association thatobtained 794 immigration judge misconduct complaints from 2009 to 2013[2]. (In reality only 767of them were actually provided, so we filed a follow-up request for the missing information). Thesecomplaints relate to the personal conduct of judges while in their official capacities, which includesallegations of in-court bias, absence of due process, among other categories. From this data, wewere able to ascertain whether or not immigrants’ complaints were being taken seriously byjudicial oversight bodies. Spoiler alert: many complaints are dismissed, and the few judges whomake up a large number of the complaints do not receive an adequate reprimand.Working for Professor Stevens inspired me to start my own project. Since I am on the GeneralCourse, I decided that I would file a FOI request myself to acquire immigration judge misconductcomplaint data for the UK. I plan to compare the procedural differences between filing a complaintin the US and the UK to determine whether or not due process rights are being upheld byimmigration courts and their oversight bodies. To do that, I need data…which is going to take awhile to obtain.Composing a RequestTo make a request, you have to understand what to ask as well as who and how to ask for it. I willoutline each one of these three points below. Knowing absolutely nothing about the UK legalsystem, I was grateful for the many websites that could point me in the right direction. Theindependent Information Commissioner’s Office and the UK government website both offeredclear, concise advice about the process. These basic steps can be used for other researchprojects as well.1. What to ask: Composing a good research question is essential, and having a narrow, specificfocus will allow you to construct a request that helps the agency understand what you want best.Because I know that a complaint mechanism for immigration judges exists, I knew that there hadto be a record and potentially a database of such complaints. You should consider both the type ofinformation you want and what kind of media it might be in as well. From the US request, I knew Iwanted to ask for all digital and non-digital media related to immigration judge misconductcomplaints received by the organization that deals with them. I needed to ask for non-digital filesas well because many notes in courtrooms and offices are taken by hand on forms and kept ashard copies. Without them, my analysis could be missing crucial details about the day-to-dayhandling of these complaints.2. Who to ask: There’s no single authority that handles FOI requests, so you have to send it to thespecific agency that you think has the necessary information. I did not know the analogous body tothe Executive Office of Immigration Review in the US. It turned out to be the Judicial ConductInvestigations Office (JCIO) and the Judicial Appointment and Conduct Ombudsman (JACO). TheJCIO receives complaints about the personal conduct of judges from the relevant court, which inthis case is Tribunal Presidents for the Immigration and Asylum Chamber. People who aredissatisfied with the way JCIO handled their complaint can file a procedural complaint with JACO.Therefore, I filed a request with JACO for all of the complaints received by both agencies. Sincethey are the final arena for complaints and have close connections with JCIO, it was the bestoption. Making requests to the wrong agency wastes your time and theirs.27/06/2017 LSE Undergraduate Political Review – Is “freedom of information” a viable research tool? Step One: Composing a Requesthttp://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lseupr/2015/12/14/is-freedom-of-information-a-viable-research-tool-step-one-composing-a-request/ 3/3December 14th, 2015 | Featured, Uncategorized | 0 Comments3. How to ask: Finally, how to ask for information is rather straightforward. Most agencies providean email address on their website to contact about freedom of information requests. You want toinclude your name, your email and physical address, and the information you would like toreceive. I also mentioned that I am an undergraduate researcher to emphasize that I amrequesting this information in the public interest and not for personal gain.Then press send. Most agencies are required by law to respond within 15 to 20 working days,which could be up to three weeks in reality to get a response. You can’t know whether they willprocess your request or not, so how do you prepare for a “no?”In the next post, I will discuss what to do when your request is denied, which happens more oftenthan not. Unsurprisingly, my request was denied because its scope is quite broad. But it doesn’tmean that there’s no hope! You can reformat it in various ways to increase the likelihood of theagency agreeing to provide you with information.[1]http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?type=6&fid=9944211&jid=PPS&volumeId=13&issueId=03&aid=9944210&fulltextType=RA&fileId=S1537592715001279#fn66[2] http://www.aila.org/infonet/eoir-records-relating-misconductThe information and views set out in this blog article are those of the author and do notnecessarily reflect the official opinion of the LSE Undergraduate Political Review, nor the LondonSchool of Economics.

Is “freedom of information” a viable research tool? Step one: composing a request

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