A veteran media lawyer and academic says impending changes to the Official Information Act are an insult.
Steven Price says they undermine months of research by the Law Commission.
Changes have long been called for regarding the 30-year-old Official Information Act, whose passage preceded the era of electronic communication.
In 2012, the commission proposed several extensions to open up information in some areas and protect privacy in others. It suggested extending coverage of the act to the courts and Parliament.
The Government says it will extend the act to the administrative functions of the courts, but not to Parliament.
Mr Price says this is an insult to months of work by the commission and an unprincipled action by the Government in limiting scrutiny of itself.
In other moves, the Government says it will limit freedom of information in several areas, notably regarding commericial sensitivity and the privacy of third parties.
