Centre for Law and Democracy

Since its launch in September 2011, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) has become the most high profile international movement for greater government transparency in the world. However, according to a Report released today by the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), only 30% of OGP Participating States have pledged to substantially enhance their legal frameworks for the right to information (RTI), a core pillar of government openness.
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On 1 July 2012, Yemen marked a milestone in its transition to democratic government by passing the Law on the Right of Access to Information. An analysis by the Centre for Law and Democracy using its RTI Rating Methodology found that the Law scored 105 points, putting Yemen in a tie for 17th place in the world, alongside Finland and Nepal, and significantly ahead of its counterparts in the Arab world, namely Jordan (which scored 56) and Tunisia (89).
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Thirty years ago today, on 28 June 1982, Canada adopted the Access to Information Act, recognising the right of citizens to access information held by government. This progressive and hugely important step placed Canada among a small vanguard of nations that have recognised the right to information, a right that fundamentally underpins a healthy democratic system.
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Today, the 13th annual Joint Declaration by the four specialised mandates of the UN, OAS, OSCE and African Commission tasked with promoting and protecting freedom of expression was launched in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. This latest Declaration, prepared with the assistance of the Centre for Law and Democracy and ARTICLE 19, expresses “abhorrence over the unacceptable rate of incidents of violence and other crimes against freedom of expression”.
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In a News Release of 14 June 2012, the Honourable Felix Collins, Minister of Justice of Newfoundland, commented on a media report citing research by the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD). The research, the RTI Rating, involves an assessment of all national access to information laws, undertaken by CLD and another highly respected international human rights organisation, Access Info Europe. The methodology for the research involved an Advisory Council of leading experts on access to information from around the world.
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At a time when the right to information is being strengthened around the world, the government of Newfoundland’s Bill 29 would be a major step backwards for government transparency according to an assessment by the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD).
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In the aftermath of the revolution that forced Yemen’s long standing President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, from power, one of the main demands of the Yemeni people has been for greater government accountability. On 24 April 2012, Yemen’s legislature passed the Law on the Right of Access to Information, which is currently awaiting presidential assent before becoming law.
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CLD recently published an analysis of the draft Somali Communications Act of 2012. The draft, which was prepared by the African Union/United Nations Information Support Team, at the request of the Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, provides only a very framework set of rules for broadcasting, focusing instead largely on telecommunications. We understand that the idea is to adopt a full broadcasting law later on.
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The Government of Myanmar has made a strong public commitment to undertake a programme of democratisation, including through creating an environment in which freedom of expression is respected. A key part of this will be to create an enabling legal environment for a free media, adopting new democratic laws and repealing or amending the many repressive laws which still remain in force in the country. As first steps, the Government is planning to adopt new press and broadcasting laws.
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CLD and AJI held a workshop in Jakarta today as part of a project which has trained local groups working in different sectors to make requests for information. The project has created a significant database of requests for information, made to different public bodies and focusing on different issues. A study of their experience was launched at the workshop, where a number of structural problems with the way public bodies in Indonesia process requests for information were identified. The workshop highlighted a number of key recommendations for improving the performance of public bodies in terms of providing information.
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The Centre for Law and Democracy today published a major Report examining the Internet from the perspective of human rights. It analyses the critical role that the Internet plays in the actualisation of fundamental human rights, particularly the right to freedom of expression, and concludes that there is a human right of access to the Internet. The Report also examines the implications of the right to freedom of expression in terms of regulation of the Internet.

Click here to read the Report in Englishor in Spanish

“This Report provides a strong justification for a right of access to the Internet, and also examines regulatory and practical issues relating to human rights and the Internet in some detail,” said Toby Mendel, Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy. “We believe that it provides a strong basis for framing future discussions and policy development in this field.”

The Report is not the first to conclude that there is a right of access to the Internet. Several constititions and top-level courts have also done so. However, the Report makes an important contribution by examining in some detail the practical issues this right raises globally. The Report also examines the need to rethink regulatory regimes, such as laws on defamation and copyright, in order to ensure that they adequately respect the unique nature of online speech.

The Centre for Law and Democracy today released the results of a comparative study which highlights problems with Alberta’s access to information legislation. The study compared access to information legislation from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia using the RTI-Rating Methodology, an analytical tool developed to assess the strength of access laws. Alberta’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) finished last in the group.
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CLD today published a comparative report on international and comparative constitutional guarantees of the right to information. The report, Entrenching RTI: An Analysis of Constitutional Protections of the Right to Information, is part of CLD’s ongoing work to support right to information reform in Egypt. At the same time, the standards outlined in the report are relevant to any country undergoing constitutional reform in this area. Click here to read the Report Continue reading →

As part of its ongoing work to strengthen Indonesia’s democratic institutions, CLD today published a comparative analysis of the rules relating to paid political advertising, with a specific focus on elections, Regulation of Paid Political Advertising: A Survey. The analysis was compiled at the behest of members of Indonesia’s Press Council, which is faced with the issue of how to ensure democratic media participation in elections.
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As part of a process of reforming the country’s RTI legislation, the government of Montenegro has prepared a draft Law on Free Access to Information, an update to the 2005 Law on Free Access to Information. The draft Law is currently being debated and discussed by several stakeholders, including representatives from government, NGOs and intergovernmental organisations such as the OSCE. In response to a request for an analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the draft Law by some of the participants in this process, CLD prepared these Comments based on an analysis using its RTI Legislation Rating Methodology.
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The International Media Mission (IMM) to Nepal has prepared detailed comments on the constitutional proposals on freedom of expression, media freedom and the right to information, prepared by the Constituent Assembly. The comments, prepared by Toby Mendel of the Centre for Law and Democracy on behalf of the IMM, highlight the positive nature of the proposals, while also identifying shortcomings, in particular their failure to sufficiently limit the scope of permissible restrictions on these rights. By letter of 26 March 2012, the comments have been sent to a number of key stakeholders in Nepal, including the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, leaders of the main political parties, and the Chair and key members of the Constituent Assembly.
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The Centre for Law and Democracy launched a detailed comparative Study on the regulation of broadcasting to protect children at a workshop organised by UNESCO and the Brazilian Ministry of Justice yesterday. The Study analyses international standards in this area and compares the practice of six democracies with the system in place in Brazil. It concludes that the Brazilian system is largely in line with international standards. Two problem areas are the regulatory role played by the Ministry of Justice, a government body, and the undue complexity of the system.
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CLD Executive Director Toby Mendel recently provided a witness statement to the UK Information Tribunal in support of an appeal against refusal lodged by Pamela Bartlett Quintanilla of Access Info Europe. The request was for minutes taken by UK representatives at the Working Party on Information meetings in the years 2010, 2011 and what has passed of 2012. Ms. Quintanilla also requested a list of attendees from the various Working Party on Information meetings that have taken place in 2011 and 2012.
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Right to information laws in Africa and the Americas are falling below the standards set by regional human rights bodies, while in Europe the standards themselves are weaker than the better right to information laws, according to a new analysis by human rights organisations Access Info Europe (Spain) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (Canada).
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A recent analysis by CLD of a draft right to information law for Egypt, prepared at the request of the group of civil society actors who developed the draft law, concludes that it largely reflects international standards, scoring 129 out of a possible total of 150 on our RTI Rating, which would put it in fourth place globally as compared to countries which have adopted such laws.
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