Category Archives: News

An assessment of Palestine’s draft Law on the Right of Access to Information by the Centre for Law and Democracy using the RTI Rating (www.RTI-Rating.org) has found that the draft would obtain a rather modest score of 92 points out of a possible 150, around the middle of the 95 countries globally with right to … Continue reading →

Specialist right to information organisations Access Info Europe and Centre for Law and Democracy led on the drafting of a set of recommendations for progressive improvements to the right to information (RTI) which should be introduced by governments participating in the Open Government Partnership. These recommendations form the right to information (RTI) chapter of the … Continue reading →

The Trans-Pacific Strategic Economic Partnership Agreement (TPP) has been a magnet for controversy since its inception, largely due to the excessive secrecy in which it is being negotiated and rumours that its intellectual property provisions would threaten Internet freedom. Today, the Centre for Law and Democracy has released an Analysis which confirms that these fears … Continue reading →

The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) is concerned that a secrecy law about to be adopted by Japan’s parliament signally fails to respect international standards and, in particular, the standards set out in the Global Principles on National Security and the Right to Information (The Tshwane Principles), which CLD participated in drafting. “We respect … Continue reading →

A key element of the OGP process is that the country-level action plans should be developed in a broadly consultative manner with local stakeholders. The third common expectation of OGP Participating Countries, as spelled out in the June 2012 Articles of Governance, is that States should: Develop country action plans through a multi-stakeholder process, with … Continue reading →

Intense campaigning by Irish and international civil society organisations has resulted in an important policy reversal by the Irish government. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin, has withdrawn, for now at least, an amendment to the Freedom of Information Bill 2013 which threatened to charge multiple up-front fees for requests deemed to … Continue reading →

Over the past three years, delegates from 12 countries representing 800 million people and 40% of the global economy have been secretly negotiating a sweeping trade agreement known as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Since their inception, the TPP negotiations have been widely criticised for their lack of transparency and failure to involve non-State players, including … Continue reading →

The success or failure of a right to information regime is heavily dependent on the public officials who are tasked with implementation, and whether they are informed about their transparency obligations. Yesterday, as part of a wider project to support implementation of the Indonesian Law on Public Information Openness, the Centre for Law and Democracy … Continue reading →

Global right to information organisations Access Info Europe (AIE) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) today called on Open Government Partnership (OGP) Participating Countries to make serious commitments to strengthen their right to information laws in the next round of action plans, due to be presented in April 2014. One of the biggest … Continue reading →

The Government of Bhutan has posted a draft of the Right to Information Bill, 2013, for comment. The draft Bill sets out procedures and other rules to give practical effect to citizens’ right to access information held by public authorities, as guaranteed by Article 7(3) of the Constitution of the Kingdom of Bhutan. As part … Continue reading →

In the early hours of Monday morning, 7 October 2013, a group of masked men armed with machetes and iron bars stormed the offices of Raajje TV, an opposition-aligned television station in Male, torching the studio, and wounding and hospitalising a security guard. The television station had received written threats of an attack the previous … Continue reading →

On 23 September 2013, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) released a detailed Analysis of the weaknesses in Nova Scotia’s access to information framework which included a number of recommendations for reform. In response, the leaders of all three major parties expressed some willingness to consider CLD’s recommendations. To measure the true strength of … Continue reading →

The Green Climate Fund (GCF), an international financial institution (IFI) which uses lending to promote compliance with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), has prepared a draft policy on information disclosure for consideration by the Board at its fifth meeting in Paris from 8-10 October 2013. The Global Transparency Initiative (GTI) has prepared … Continue reading →

For years, politicians across Canada have been promising transparent and accountable government, and failing to deliver. From Canada’s lukewarm participation in the Open Government Partnership to the many failed attempts at reforming the federal Access to Information Act, Canadians have become used to a familiar cycle, where candidates pledge bold improvements during the election campaign, … Continue reading →

Access Info Europe (Spain) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (Canada) are today launching a report providing an analysis of the results and trends in the global RTI Rating, which assesses the legal framework for the right to information (RTI) in every country in the world which has adopted a national RTI law. A … Continue reading →

As Nova Scotians prepare to select their next government, transparency and a positive attitude toward the right to information should be a significant consideration in determining who is best suited to lead the province. Today, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) released an Analysis pointing to major problems with Nova Scotia’s transparency framework, the … Continue reading →

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a global initiative to promote greater transparency, participation and accountability in government founded by Presidents Obama of the United States and Rousseff of Brazil. Member countries must meet minimum openness standards and pledge to make further commitments to openness. Having presented its first Action Plan in April 2012, setting … Continue reading →

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) today launched the Handbook on International Standards and Media Law in the Arab World. The Handbook sets out international standards regarding media freedom and assesses the extent to which the legal regimes governing the media in Arab countries conform to those … Continue reading →

In recent years, freedom of expression in Russia has come under severe attack. A number of pieces of legislation have been adopted limiting the ability of opposition voices to make themselves heard. An Analysis released today by CLD demonstrates that, even against this troubling backdrop, the recent decision by Russia’s government to create an Internet … Continue reading →

Copyright law is among the most contentious issues regarding freedom of expression today. Artists claim that rampant piracy is destroying their ability to earn a living, while audiences accustomed to the free-flowing digital age feel stifled by copyright’s limitations. Against this backdrop, major conflicts have taken place to prevent attempts by rights holding lobbies to … Continue reading →