EU: A paper prepared by Mario Savino, of Tuscia University of Viterbo (Italy), addresses the topic, “The Right to Open Public Administrations in Europe: Emerging Legal Standards.” It is published by Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The paper examines the regulations on access to information where they exist and how transparency policies are implemented in 14 European Union member states.
The paper is divided into three parts. Part I illustrates the main transparency policy trends in Europe and the gradual recognition of access to documents as a fundamental right. Part II highlights the emergence of common legal standards with regard to the five crucial issues mentioned above. Against this backdrop, the final part of the paper (Part III) provides guidelines for legislators and governments that are willing to adjust their transparency regimes and administrative practice to meet emerging common European standards.
ICIC 2011: The Office of the Information Commissioner of Canada has announced the date for the 7th International Conference of Information Commissioners, being organized in collaboration with the Canadian Bar Association. ICIC 2011 will take place in Ottawa on October 4-5, 2011. “Although we are not quite ready to accept registrations, a block of rooms will be reserved for attendees. A website will be created shortly with conference details, including a preliminary agenda.
Nepal: The first National Convention on RTI in Nepal is scheduled for March 28-29. See more on http://www.freedomforum.org.np/.
Macedonia: Global Integrity announces the release of its first Local Integrity Initiative pilot project in the health and education sectors, an exercise we collaborated on last year with the World Bank’s Human Development anchor and the Center for Research and Policymaking (CRPM) in Macedonia. Our fieldwork attempted to answer a relatively simple but powerful question: does increased access to key information impact health or education service delivery at the facility level?
Results included:
The absence of home-grown, citizen audit and community monitoring groups in both sectors, which stands in contrast to the relative robustness of official government audits and monitoring in these sectors;
Significant implementation gaps between information access laws (as they relate to education and healthcare service delivery) and their implementation and enforcement;
The importance of informal mechanisms and processes in information sharing and dissemination;
How information is transmitted significantly determines whether citizens can access information that is publicly released.
The report has the methodology as well as detailed results. Similar work is planned in Kenya and Ukraine.
United States: A new report presents a road map for how federal agencies are making progress in moving to a more open and transparent government.
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