Once you know what you want to ask for you need to identify the relevant public institution. In most cases this will be obvious, but in some cases you might have a slight doubt, in which case it’s worth checking on the websites of the relevant bodies to see which seems to be responsible for that area of activity. A quick phone call to each institution might clarify further.

Remember: when you phone you don’t have to mention that you are a journalist nor why you want the information, especially if you think that this might set some alarm bells ringing inside the institution.

TIP! If you are still unsure, there is nothing to stop you filing the request with two, three or more bodies at the same time. In some cases, the various bodies will give you different answers, but this can actually be helpful in giving you a fuller picture of the information available about what you are looking for.

TIP! If you do not live in the country where you want to file the request, you can sometimes submit the request to the embassy and they should transfer it to the competent public body.  You will need to check with the relevant embassy first if they are ready to do this – sometimes the embassy staff will not have been trained in the right to information and it’s safer to file the request directly with the relevant public body.