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Professor Alan Page and the Scottish FOI Commissioner
Partnership with the SCFOI

FOI Modules

New LLM module in Freedom of Information

The School of Law is offering a new LLM module in Freedom of Information in 2010 depending on levels of student interest. The module is worth 30 credits towards a Post Graduate Certificate, Postgraduate Diploma, or LLM. It can lead to the writing of a dissertation. The best of these will be published on the Centre for FOI website as an occasional publication.

The class will meet for 2 hours a week for 10 weeks. Assessment will be by assignment 50% and a 3 hour examination 50%. It is recommended for legal trained staff who would like to deepen their knowledge and inform their practice.

The objective of the module is to help students acquire an advanced knowledge and critical understanding of the legal regimes regulating the availability of public information in Scotland. By the end of the module, students should appreciate the broader governmental and political context in which freedom of information regimes operate and understand the main features of the Scottish Freedom of Information Act including the institutional framework and the nature of the exemptions. Indicative content includes the following:

  1. The principal aims of FoI legislation considered in their wider political, technological, and social contexts;
  2. Institutional and structural aspects comparing Scotland and the UK;
  3. The scope of information covered and the impact of privatisation, nationalisation and outsourcing on coverage;
  4. Legislative exemptions to disclosure considered in the context of the general law;
  5. Rights of access to personal information and the duty to withhold from disclosure;
  6. Environmental information and its distinctive regime;
  7. FoI and commercial interests;
  8. FoI in practice;
  9. Publication schemes and their impact;

Comparative overview of where the Scottish Act sits in the world of FoI


For further information please contact

Ms Donna Hendry
centrefoi@dundee.ac.uk
00 44 (0) 1382 384454

Further information on all LLM taught programmes can be found on The School of Law LLM pages.