Introduction to Handlingar.se #

What is Handlingar for? #

According to the Principle of Public Access (offentlighetsprincipen), it’s everyone’s right to request information from the Swedish government and Swedish public bodies.

Handlingar.se shows you how to make a Freedom of Information request and access information about central government, regional government, local government, The Swedish Riksdag, the healthcare, the armed forces, state funded schools and universities and other public authorities and subsidiary companies.

You can also use the site to find out information that regulators hold about businesses, charities and other organisations.

How does the site work? #

You choose the public authority that you would like information from, then write a brief note describing what you want to know. We then send your request to the public authority. Both your request, and any response received, are automatically published on the website for you and anyone else to find and read.

Why would I bother to do this? #

Public bodies are funded by the public purse: you pay taxes, and then government funds its activities with your money: all sorts of things that affect your life, from health care through to national defence. Some it does well, some it does badly.

Since it’s your money that public bodies are spending, you might be interested to check that they are running efficiently, making good decisions, and doing the job they are supposed to do.

The more we find out about how government works, the better able we are to make suggestions to celebrate the things that are done well, and improve the things that are done badly. Some people and organisations use the site for research; others for journalism, campaigning or awareness-raising. Some are simply curious.

Why would the public authority bother to reply? #

Under Freedom of Information (FOI) law, the Principle of Public Access (offentlighetsprincipen), or sometimes other access to information laws, public authorities have to respond. The response will either contain the information you want, or give a legal reason why it has not been provided.

Does useful information get released through the site? #

Yes. Documents are released through the site. See our blog for examples, and about.handlingar.se for more about the project.

What if I see a request I feel to be inappropriate? #

Requests for personal information and vexatious requests are not considered valid for FOI purposes. See our instructions about making requests for more information on how we expect people to use this site.

If you believe a request is not suitable, you can report it for attention by the site administrators.

Why are there some requests I can’t report? #

If a request has already been reported to the site administrators, you can’t report it a second time - this is to prevent the administrators being notified multiple times about the same issue before they’ve had a chance to conduct a review.

Where a request that you think should be taken down has been previously reported, but a decision has been made not to remove it from public view, you can use the form in the sidebar of the request page to contact the administrators.

How many people use Handlingar.se? #

Anyone can browse requests and responses without an account. People who make a request register so the authority can reply.

Most visitors never send a request themselves — they benefit from information already published on the site.

Who runs Handlingar.se? #

Handlingar.se is run and maintained by Open Knowledge Sweden. Open Knowledge Sweden is a registered non-profit in Sweden.

Open Knowledge Sweden is not a public body.

If you like what we’re doing, then you can make a donation.

How can I keep up with news about Handlingar.se? #

We have a blog and we’re on Facebook and Twitter too.

Next, read about making requests -->