Opinions

 

OIP FORMAL OPINIONS

OIP has issued 1,052 total opinions since its inception in FY 1989, including 375 formal opinion letters (includes F23-05). Opinions are designated as formal and made available where they provide guidance on UIPA or Sunshine Law provisions or apply to factual situations that have not been fully addressed in prior formal opinions. Formal opinions are distributed to government agencies and other requesting parties and are also maintained on OIP’s website, where you will also find a searchable index by subject matter of all formal opinions.

Formal opinions are relied upon as precedent by OIP, unless they have been overturned by subsequent OIP or court opinions or statutory amendments.

Opinion summaries are provided by OIP for the reader’s convenience and have no legally binding or precedential value.  In the event of a conflict between the full text and the summary version, the full text of an opinion controls.

To view or print an opinion letter and summary, just click on the OPINION LETTERS link below. You may also contact OIP for a copy of the signed opinion. Using your editing function, you can do a key word search within the subject matter index for OIP’s formal opinions. Beginning July 2012, formal opinions are grouped on this website by fiscal year (FY), which begins on July 1 and ends June 30.  For example, FY 2016 runs from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016.

Click on the topics below to see:

OPINION LETTERS: Summaries and Full Text

OIP INFORMAL OPINIONS

INFORMAL Opinion Letter Summaries

OIP has issued 677 informal opinions since FY 1989 (including U Memo 23-07 and S Memo 22-01). Beginning in FY 2009, OIP has posted on this website charts of its informal opinion letters, in two categories: Sunshine Law opinions and UIPA opinions.

Opinion summaries are provided by OIP for the reader’s convenience and have no legally binding or precedential value.  In the event of a conflict between the full text and the summary version, the full text of an opinion controls.

Beginning July 2012, informal opinions are grouped on this website by fiscal year (FY), which begins on July 1 and ends June 30.  For example, FY 2016 runs from July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2016.

COURT OPINIONS

Court Opinions List (as of June 2020)


Recent Opinions:

Honolulu Civil Beat Inc. v. Department of the Attorney General (Hawaii Supreme Court):
March 11, 2020 decision
April 26, 2022 majority decision
April 26, 2022 concur/dissent opinion

 

Deliberative Process Privilege Opinions:

 Hawaii Supreme Court Opinions in Peer News LLC v. City and County of Honolulu
(deliberative process privilege overruled): Majority Opinion; Dissenting Opinion

“The Deliberative Process Privilege and Hawaii’s Open Records Law (an article by OIP Director Cheryl Kakazu Park that was first published in the March 2020 issue of the Hawaii Bar Journal)”

OIP’s Analysis of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s Majority and
 Dissenting Opinions Rejecting the Deliberative Process
 Privilege as an Exemption to Disclosure Under the UIPA 
(March 1, 2019)
Attachments and Index

 This May 20, 2019 update of OIP’s Analysis
cites to the Hawaii Supreme Court’s published opinions:
OIP’s Analysis of the Hawaii Supreme Court’s Majority and
 Dissenting Opinions Rejecting the Deliberative Process
 Privilege as an Exemption to Disclosure Under the UIPA
(May 20, 2019)
Attachments and Index

 

Other Hawaii Opinions:

In Re Office of Information Practices Opinion Letter No. F16-01
(Hawaii Supreme Court, June 16, 2020)

Summary:  Kanahele v. Maui County Council  

In re Office Of Information Practices Opinion Letter No. F15-02:
Order Denying Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Board of Trustees’ Motion for Summary Judgment
The Board of the Office of Hawaiian Affairs had appealed OIP Opinion Letter No. F15-02,
which the First Circuit Court upheld in denying the Board’s motion for summary judgment.

Summary:  Peer News LLC v. City and County of Honolulu
(disclosure of police suspension records)

Summary of Civil Beat Law Center v. City and County of Honolulu
(clarifying Sunshine Law executive meeting provisions)

Civil Beat Law Center v. City and County of Honolulu (Hawaii Supreme Court opinion)


U.S. Supreme Court Opinions:

Food Marketing Institute v. Argus Leader Media (2018)
(Discussing Confidential Business Information)

United States Fish Wildlife Service v. Sierra Club Inc. (2021)
(Discussing the Deliberative Process Privilege)