By Toby McIntosh
The number of national freedom of information laws continues to grow, and at least 20 countries are considering passage of FOI laws, but threats to transparency laws are emerging.
In the year since the last International Right to Know Day, three countries joined the list of now 104 countries with FOI regimes: Paraguay (See FreeedomInfo.org report), Mozambique (See FreedomInfo.org report) and Afghanistan (See FreedomInfo.org article).
In addition, an Iranian law from 2009 was implemented. (See FreedomInfo.org report.) And the president of Columbia signed a decree implementing a law passed in early 2014. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Legislative Efforts in 20 Countries
Legislative activity to pass new FOI laws exists in at least 20 countries, according to a FreedomInfo.org tally.
Some efforts show promise, but most face significant hurdles. In some countries, such as Ghana and the Philippines, advocacy has been under way for more than a decade.
Disappointment looms in the Philippines, where the president has given verbal support but withheld political support. (See FreedomInfo.org article.) “The FOI Bill is dead,” according to its supporters in the Philippines, although Congress is still in session. On RTK Day Sept. 28, the FOI Youth Initiative greeted lawmakers with white roses and urged passage of the House bill.
In Ghana, a bill has advanced further than ever before, but prospects for final passage remain uncertain, again notwithstanding politicians’ promises. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Countries where passage of legislation seems possible include Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Seychelles, but predictions are perilous.
Changing political situations have damaged the prospects for FOI bills in some countries where legislation was being developed, such as Egypt. The transition government in Burkina Faso recently passed a bill (See FreedomInfo.org) but was ousted in a coup.
The mood hardly seems conducive to more openness in some countries.
In Malaysia, for example, a top minister in August questioned whether the country is ready for a FOI law if the recipients of information are “just going to smear it in my face.” (See FreedomInfo.org report.) A coalition of 69 groups is pushing for transparency of political contributions and also seeking RTI legislation. (See article in Malaysiakini.) But government resistance seems strong. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
A top Zambian official made similar remarks. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Negative Environments
Also troubling is the emergence of backlash against existing FOI laws, notably in the Hungary, Japan, the United Kingdom and Australia.
The Hungarian Parliament in July approved legislation to raise the cost of making FOI requests and make it harder to access information. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Japan’s new state secrets law took effect over protests by critics. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
In the United Kingdom, the government has formed a commission to examine whether the FOI law sufficiently protects government deliberations, drawing strong objections from FOI supporters. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
The Australian government in 2014 sought to pass a bill abolishing the office of the information commission, eventually abandoning the effort. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Positive Amendments
On the other hand, positive amendments were made to a few existing laws during the past year and some reform efforts are continuing.
Revisions to the Irish FOI law brought more public bodies under the Irish FOI umbrella. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Supporters called a redone Albanian law enacted in October 2014 “groundbreaking”. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
The Mexican Senate in March approved a new access to information law expanding its reach and the powers of the information commission. (See Freedominfo.org report.)
The Ukrainian Parliament in April passed new laws encouraging the release of government open data and providing more information from the country’s archive of Soviet-era KGB files.
(See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Recently implemented changes in the Croatian law revise the rules on the reuse of the public sector information, set up on open data portal, make “e-counseling” obligatory and clarify FOI restrictions. (Freedominfo.org report forthcoming.)
Amendments in Process, Maybe
Efforts to improve laws are being pushed in the United States, but the path has not been easy, giving rise to a campaign to “fix it” before the 50th anniversary of the FOI law July 4, 2016. A bill failed to pass in late 2014. (See FreedomInfo.org post-mortem.)
Civil society organizations in Peru in August withdrew support for the government’s national action plan created as part of its membership in the Open Government Partnership, saying the government had not acted to create a new National Access to Information and Transparency Authority. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Jamaica’s minister with responsibility for information has said that a new Access to Information Act will be tabled and passed in the current financial year. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
The Chilean Senate in May was studying draft amendments to strengthen the access to information law. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Wider Look
Taking the temperature of the FOI movement based only on passage of new laws an amendments and the failure to pass laws is too simplistic. The implementation of FOI laws is key.
Two brand new reports – one about Africa and another on Asia – suggest significant problems.
The Africa Freedom of Information Centre has issued a 124-page report analyzing RTI in 15 African countries, reporting problems implementing laws and difficulties getting new laws passed. (See FreedomInfo.org summary.)
Article 19 looked at 11 Asian countries finding some bright spots but also much backsliding or resistance. (See FreeedomInfo.org summary.)
Article 19 said there is increasing demand for information and some improvement in the proactive disclosure of information by governments. On the other hand, it said “pressure by Asian governments to increase national security, prevent terrorism and hide corruption has never been higher.”
Just published Sept. 28 is a comprehensive report (in Spanish) on Latin American countries by the Alianza Regional por la Libre Expresión e Información with the theme of “access to information and open data.”
A February report on the FOI laws in the Caribbean found them to be of limited scope, with over-broad exemptions and shortcomings in the oversight and appeals mechanisms. (See FreedomInfo.org summary.)
Another assessment came earlier this year from 35 information commissioners from 25 countries, who issued a statement in April that “expressed concern” with “continuing inequalities” limited access to information, “the deterioration” of RTI protections, and weak government funding. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
A somewhat different perspective came in a World Justice Project “Open Government Index” that found low public awareness of access to information laws, particularly among lower income citizens. (See Freedominfo.org report.)
Awareness of right to know laws in three Southeast Asian countries is very low and public officials report many obstacles to implementing the RTI laws, according to a report by the Asia Foundation. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Edison Lanza, the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter?American Commission on Human Rights, in July called on governments to build “robust” supervisory bodies with sufficient power and resources to ensure access to information. (See FreedomInfo.org story.)
Increasing attention is being paid to measuring the implementation of laws.
For example, the World Bank is developing an evaluation system, and funded a “working paper,” by Toby Mendel, Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, on how to improve implementation. (See FreedomInfo.org article.) The Carter Center built a diagnostic tool.
Quantification of the effectiveness of access laws may get a boost from the new access to information goal contained in the new United Nations Sustainable Development Goals depending on the measuring stick chosen. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
National Reviews Continue
Many national groups test their FOI laws by making requests and reporting the results. Most of the country-specific reports are pretty critical. Below is only a sampling.
Government compliance with South Africa’s 15-year-old Promotion of Access to Information Act was judged to be in a “sorry state,” according to the PAIA Civil Society Network. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
In India, where about 4.5 million right to information requests are filed annually, a major nationwide study by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative criticized the administration of the act and recordkeeping. (See FreedomInfo.org report.) Another report provided a detailed picture of dysfunction, including “huge” backlogs, an ineffectual appeals process, lack of compliance with orders and penalty awards, and weak records management. The Peoples Monitoring of the RTI regime in India-2011-2013,” was prepared by RTI Assessment and Advocacy Group (RaaG) and Samya- Centre for Equity Studies (CES).
The Access to Information Programme in Bulgaria in March proposed ways to handle five major implementation problems is discovered. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
The rate of response to FOI requests by the Georgian government has dipped, according to a report by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information that urged the government to follow through on a promise to pass a new FOI law. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
FreedomInfo.org’s List of FOI Legislation Activity
Bills are in various stages of consideration in 20 countries to pass FOI laws for the first time, according to a FreedomInfo.org look back on the year ending Sept. 28, 2015.
This list attempts to chronicle where some official action on FOI legislation has been taken, or is in the offing. Sometimes this means promises.
This is not to say that transparency reforms in other guises are not being pursued. And some FOI efforts may yet to have surfaced in local media. In some countries, such as Argentina, Botswana and Egypt, where pro-FOI campaigns made progress in recent years, there now seems to be less activity. (FreedomInfo.org is always delighted to get more information from readers.)
Activity in the following countries came to the attention of FreedomInfo.org in the past year:
Mauritius: The government of Mauritius is “committed to bring forward” a FOI bill, according to a September statement by Prime Minister Anerood. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report).
Pakistan: Tantalizingly close, with promises to bring a bill up in the Cabinet in August, but then, nothing. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Pakistan’s draft RTI bill, if passed as drafted, would be the world’s best. (See previous FreedomInfo.org.)
Kenya: Legislation to create an access to information law was given a first reading August in the National Assembly. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Ghana: The Ghana Parliament in July completed general discussion of an RTI bill and is expected to move on to the amendment stage, though recent history would that suggest delay is more likely. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Cyprus: The government is drafting FOI legislation, according to the Justice Minister. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Tunisia: Advocates have called on the government to get back to work on right to information legislation after a draft law was withdrawn just prior to its final adoption.” (See Freedominfo.org article.)
Sri Lanka: RTI legislation promised by the new president has not passed in Sri Lanka, a victim of political differences over electoral reform that led President Maitripala Sirisena to dissolve parliament and call new elections. (See FreedomInfo.org article.) A new attempt has been announced. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Morocco: The Moroccan government’s latest draft bill, announced in December, got bad reviews. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Gibraltar: Gibraltar’s government in June proposed FOI legislation. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Seychelles: The signs for approval of a FOI law in the Seychelles are positive, judging by comments from President James Michel. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)]
Bahamas: The government of the Bahamas in May proposed FOI legislation. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.)
Zambia: President Edgar Lungu has voiced reluctance to support access to information legislation in the wake of a disclosure that his administration kept a loan from China secret. (See FreedomInfo.org report.)
Namibia: The Namibia Media Trust has called for consultation with the government on FOI legislation. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Tanzania: The Tanzanian government’s RTI bill is criticized as “rather mediocre.” In the face of objections from RTI advocates, the government backed off a plan to pass a poorly rated bill under expedited procedures. (See previous FreedomInf.org report.)
DR Congo: In March, the Senate put a bill on its agenda, according to media reports confirmed by local activists. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Cambodia: Participants in a December National Workshop on Access to Information in Cambodia issued a statement praising the government’s commitment to develop an access bill, but nothing has been introduced. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Myanmar: Almost a dozen nongovernment organizations in Myanmar in November agreed to work collaboratively towards and RTI law. (See FreedomInfo.org article.)
Algeria: Proposals were made in February for an Organic Law on Information. (See Algerian Press Service article.)
Italy: The Italian House Aug. 4 passed a “Public Administrative” bill that grants the government authority to write a freedom of information law. (See Freedominfo.org article.)
Kazakhstan: Draft language was recently discussed at a forum of experts and officials and is considered to be a priority by President Nursultan Nazarb. (Based on a report on the event by the sponsor, the Organization for Security and Co?operation in Europe.)
Filed under: What's New