Editing Declassification (section)

==United Kingdom==
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{{see also|Freedom of information in the United Kingdom}}
Classified information has been governed by various Official Secrets Acts, the latest being the [[Official Secrets Act 1989]]. Until 1989 requested information was routinely kept secret invoking the public interest defence; this was largely removed by the 1989 Act. The [[Freedom of Information Act 2000]] largely requires information to be disclosed unless there are good reasons for secrecy.

Confidential government papers such as the yearly cabinet papers used routinely to be withheld formally, although not necessarily classified as secret, for 30 years under the [[thirty year rule]], and released usually on a [[New Year's Day]]; freedom of information legislation has relaxed this rigid approach.