This paper is about efforts to amend the legal framework for the right to information, with a par... more This paper is about efforts to amend the legal framework for the right to information, with a particular focus on access to information (ATI) laws. It looks at the main substantive issues such reform attempts have targeted and what legal forms they may take. It also examines the role different actors - civil society, the media, oversight bodies, parliaments, and political leaders - can play in helping support the adoption of reforms that promote openness and defeat those that erect barriers. The paper is an initial attempt to examine this issue, based on the growing body of experience globally in this area. The rapid growth in the number of ATI laws globally means that, at any given time, a significant number of serious attempts to secure amendments are in progress. When an ATI law has been adopted, a number of different actions affect the exercise of the right to information. This paper is divided into two main parts. The first part provides an overview of some of the reform initia...
In the last 20 years, there has been a massive growth in the number of national laws giving indiv... more In the last 20 years, there has been a massive growth in the number of national laws giving individuals the right to access information held by public bodies (right to information or RTI laws). The number of countries with such laws has grown from 19 mostly Western democracies in1995, to some 100 today from all regions of the world. Furthermore, the strength of these laws,as measured by the extent to which they reflect international standards, has increased significantly during this period. Over approximately the same period, RTI has come to be recognizedas a human right under international law, a significant normative development. The main global drivers for these changes include the accessibility of the idea behind RTI, namely that governments hold information not for themselves but on behalf of the wider public, growing demands for participation, globalization and changing relations with information wrought by new information technologies. At the national level, political dynamic...
Each mdi assessment in the Arab World was done in a very different way and thus provided me with ... more Each mdi assessment in the Arab World was done in a very different way and thus provided me with different insights into the opportunities and challenges of conducting these assessments in that region. This paper looks at the three assessments I was more closely associated with in the Arab World from my personal perspective, drawing some tentative conclusions about some of the particular features of undertaking mdi assessments in that region of the world
This publication seeks to identify the relationship between freedom of expression and Internet pr... more This publication seeks to identify the relationship between freedom of expression and Internet privacy, assessing where they support or compete with each other in different circumstances. The book maps out the issues in the current regulatory landscape of Internet privacy from the viewpoint of freedom of expression. It provides an overview of legal protection, self-regulatory guidelines, normative challenges, and case studies relating to the topic.
This paper looks at the relationship between the design of a law which aims to give individuals a... more This paper looks at the relationship between the design of a law which aims to give individuals a right to access information held by public authorities, i.e. a right to information (RTI) law, and the successful implementation of that law. The legal framework involves both laws and subordinate legislation, such as regulations, which complement the law and are easier to amend, with the result that there is likely to be a more dynamic relationship between the design of regulations and implementation challenges. There is also, of course, the question of how laws are interpreted by the courts, as well as other players, such as oversight bodies, which can impact significantly on implementation of the law. A key issue for this paper is the fact that there is, at least in many countries, a law-implementation or policy-practice gap in the sense that implementation of the RTI law is significantly sub-optimal.1 No law is perfectly implemented, but the gap between the standards of the formal r...
On 6 May 2014, at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day Celebrations in Paris, the four special IGO ... more On 6 May 2014, at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day Celebrations in Paris, the four special IGO mandates for protecting freedom of expression - the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the African Commission on Human and Peoples� Rights (ACHPR) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information - adopted a Joint Declaration on Universality and the Right to Freedom of Expression. This was their 16th annual Joint Declaration, and was adopted with the assistance of the Centre for Law and Democracy and ARTICLE 19 (for former Joint Declarations, see IRIS 2011-8/2, IRIS 2010-5/1, IRIS 2009-9/101, IRIS 2009-2/101, IRIS 2008-4/1, IRIS 2007-2/101, IRIS 2006-3/2, IRIS 2005-2/1, and IRIS 2004-2/12).
The core political entity at the United Nations is the Security Council. The Security Council is ... more The core political entity at the United Nations is the Security Council. The Security Council is comprised of five permanent members – the Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (until its demise in 1991), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America – and ten non-permanent members elected from the General Assembly for a term of two years. A great deal of power is vested in the Security Council, with special powers accorded to the permanent members. There may well be a need for a small executive group within the United Nations to effectively carry out its mandate. It is less clear, however, that the five states listed above should have permanent membership in this elite club. The arrangement of the Security Council immediately brings two questions to mind. The first is whether the current composition of the Security Council reflects modern international power broking reality? The second is whether there should...
Islam is the religion of all Maldivians; indeed, according to the Constitution, only Muslims may ... more Islam is the religion of all Maldivians; indeed, according to the Constitution, only Muslims may be citizens (Article 9(d)). The language of the Maldives is Dhivehi, a mixture of Arabic and Asian languages, written in a local script, Thaana, although English is also widely spoken, particularly among elites, many of whom are educated abroad.
Intercom: Revista Brasileira de Ciências da Comunicação
Toby Mendel é diretor-executivo da Centre for Law and Democracy, organização internacional com se... more Toby Mendel é diretor-executivo da Centre for Law and Democracy, organização internacional com sede no Canadá que, desde 2010, realiza ações de defesa dos Direitos Humanos e fortalecimento da democracia, com foco em pesquisas sobre liberdade de expressão e direito de acesso à informação. Entre as atividades desenvolvidas pelo instituto, está o Global Right to Information Rating 2 , uma ferramenta que classifica a força de leis de acesso à informação de diferentes países, com base em critérios pré-estabelecidos. Atualmente, a lista conta com 128 países e é encabeçada pelo Afeganistão, seguido pelo México. O Brasil está na 28ª posição. Durante 12 anos, Mendel ocupou o cargo de diretor sênior da ONG Artigo 19 e já colaborou com diversos órgãos internacionais como Banco Mundial e UNESCO. Entre suas contribuições, destacam-se estudos sobre direito à informação, regulação da mídia e comunicação pública, como "Concentration of media ownership and freedom of expression:
When the United States adopted its Freedom of Information Act in 1966, it was the third country i... more When the United States adopted its Freedom of Information Act in 1966, it was the third country in the world to put in place such a groundbreaking democratic mechanism for ensuring public access to the information held by government. As such, it was, by definition, a global leader in this area. Fifty years later, however, according to the internationally recognized tool for assessing legal frameworks for what has come to be known as the right to information, or RTI, the RTI Rating, the United States FOIA languishes in the fifty-first position globally. This article describes the way the RTI Rating works and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the FOIA according to the rating. In some cases, these weaknesses appear to be derived, at least in part, from the age of the FOIA, and a correlation can be found between the performance of the United States law and other older laws. In other cases, further study is needed to identify the causes of the weaknesses.
v (1) Right of Access (1.1) Parliaments should pass as a priority effective access to information... more v (1) Right of Access (1.1) Parliaments should pass as a priority effective access to information legislation, in accordance with these Recommendations, giving everyone a right to access information held by public authorities. (2) Scope of Application (2.1) The obligations set out in access to information legislation should apply to all bodies that carry out public functions, regardless of their form or designation. In particular, bodies that provide public services under public contracts should, to that extent, be covered by the legislation. The Group commends the situation in South Africa, whereby even private bodies are obliged to disclose information where this is necessary for the exercise or protection of any right. (3) Routine Publication (3.1) Public bodies should be required by law to publish and disseminate widely a range of key information in a manner that is easily accessible to the public. Over time, the amount of information subject to such disclosure should be increased. (3.2) Public bodies should be required to develop publication schemes, with a view to increasing the amount of information subject to automatic publication over time. (3.3) Public bodies should make use of new information technologies so that, over time, all information that might be the subject of a request, and that is not covered by an exception, is available electronically. This will not only significantly promote public access to this information but also Initiative, the Commonwealth Secretariat, NGOs and the international community to provide assistance for the following: (15.3.a) Certain jurisdictions, such as small states, countries in transition and specific regions face greater challenges and needs for technical and expert assistance in the field of access to information and, therefore, the above bodies should give prompt attention to their requests for activities, information, targeted meetings and advice; (15.3.b) The Group recognized the need for better information on access and, as a result, recommended that Commonwealth-wide comparative studies be conducted in key thematic areas; and (15.3.c) The Group supported the idea of developing a code of record maintenance practice for the Commonwealth. Conclusion The Group recognizes the enormous variety that exists within the Commonwealth and that the implementation of these Recommendations for access to information will vary from country to country. At the same time, we believe that these Recommendations represent a foundational set of standards to which all Commonwealth jurisdictions should aspire. We call on all Commonwealth Parliaments and their Members to take effective measures, as soon as possible, to implement these Recommendations in practice.
This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Developmen... more This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or ...
This paper is about efforts to amend the legal framework for the right to information, with a par... more This paper is about efforts to amend the legal framework for the right to information, with a particular focus on access to information (ATI) laws. It looks at the main substantive issues such reform attempts have targeted and what legal forms they may take. It also examines the role different actors - civil society, the media, oversight bodies, parliaments, and political leaders - can play in helping support the adoption of reforms that promote openness and defeat those that erect barriers. The paper is an initial attempt to examine this issue, based on the growing body of experience globally in this area. The rapid growth in the number of ATI laws globally means that, at any given time, a significant number of serious attempts to secure amendments are in progress. When an ATI law has been adopted, a number of different actions affect the exercise of the right to information. This paper is divided into two main parts. The first part provides an overview of some of the reform initia...
In the last 20 years, there has been a massive growth in the number of national laws giving indiv... more In the last 20 years, there has been a massive growth in the number of national laws giving individuals the right to access information held by public bodies (right to information or RTI laws). The number of countries with such laws has grown from 19 mostly Western democracies in1995, to some 100 today from all regions of the world. Furthermore, the strength of these laws,as measured by the extent to which they reflect international standards, has increased significantly during this period. Over approximately the same period, RTI has come to be recognizedas a human right under international law, a significant normative development. The main global drivers for these changes include the accessibility of the idea behind RTI, namely that governments hold information not for themselves but on behalf of the wider public, growing demands for participation, globalization and changing relations with information wrought by new information technologies. At the national level, political dynamic...
Each mdi assessment in the Arab World was done in a very different way and thus provided me with ... more Each mdi assessment in the Arab World was done in a very different way and thus provided me with different insights into the opportunities and challenges of conducting these assessments in that region. This paper looks at the three assessments I was more closely associated with in the Arab World from my personal perspective, drawing some tentative conclusions about some of the particular features of undertaking mdi assessments in that region of the world
This publication seeks to identify the relationship between freedom of expression and Internet pr... more This publication seeks to identify the relationship between freedom of expression and Internet privacy, assessing where they support or compete with each other in different circumstances. The book maps out the issues in the current regulatory landscape of Internet privacy from the viewpoint of freedom of expression. It provides an overview of legal protection, self-regulatory guidelines, normative challenges, and case studies relating to the topic.
This paper looks at the relationship between the design of a law which aims to give individuals a... more This paper looks at the relationship between the design of a law which aims to give individuals a right to access information held by public authorities, i.e. a right to information (RTI) law, and the successful implementation of that law. The legal framework involves both laws and subordinate legislation, such as regulations, which complement the law and are easier to amend, with the result that there is likely to be a more dynamic relationship between the design of regulations and implementation challenges. There is also, of course, the question of how laws are interpreted by the courts, as well as other players, such as oversight bodies, which can impact significantly on implementation of the law. A key issue for this paper is the fact that there is, at least in many countries, a law-implementation or policy-practice gap in the sense that implementation of the RTI law is significantly sub-optimal.1 No law is perfectly implemented, but the gap between the standards of the formal r...
On 6 May 2014, at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day Celebrations in Paris, the four special IGO ... more On 6 May 2014, at the UNESCO World Press Freedom Day Celebrations in Paris, the four special IGO mandates for protecting freedom of expression - the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, the OAS Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and the African Commission on Human and Peoples� Rights (ACHPR) Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information - adopted a Joint Declaration on Universality and the Right to Freedom of Expression. This was their 16th annual Joint Declaration, and was adopted with the assistance of the Centre for Law and Democracy and ARTICLE 19 (for former Joint Declarations, see IRIS 2011-8/2, IRIS 2010-5/1, IRIS 2009-9/101, IRIS 2009-2/101, IRIS 2008-4/1, IRIS 2007-2/101, IRIS 2006-3/2, IRIS 2005-2/1, and IRIS 2004-2/12).
The core political entity at the United Nations is the Security Council. The Security Council is ... more The core political entity at the United Nations is the Security Council. The Security Council is comprised of five permanent members – the Republic of China, France, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (until its demise in 1991), the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the United States of America – and ten non-permanent members elected from the General Assembly for a term of two years. A great deal of power is vested in the Security Council, with special powers accorded to the permanent members. There may well be a need for a small executive group within the United Nations to effectively carry out its mandate. It is less clear, however, that the five states listed above should have permanent membership in this elite club. The arrangement of the Security Council immediately brings two questions to mind. The first is whether the current composition of the Security Council reflects modern international power broking reality? The second is whether there should...
Islam is the religion of all Maldivians; indeed, according to the Constitution, only Muslims may ... more Islam is the religion of all Maldivians; indeed, according to the Constitution, only Muslims may be citizens (Article 9(d)). The language of the Maldives is Dhivehi, a mixture of Arabic and Asian languages, written in a local script, Thaana, although English is also widely spoken, particularly among elites, many of whom are educated abroad.
Intercom: Revista Brasileira de Ciências da Comunicação
Toby Mendel é diretor-executivo da Centre for Law and Democracy, organização internacional com se... more Toby Mendel é diretor-executivo da Centre for Law and Democracy, organização internacional com sede no Canadá que, desde 2010, realiza ações de defesa dos Direitos Humanos e fortalecimento da democracia, com foco em pesquisas sobre liberdade de expressão e direito de acesso à informação. Entre as atividades desenvolvidas pelo instituto, está o Global Right to Information Rating 2 , uma ferramenta que classifica a força de leis de acesso à informação de diferentes países, com base em critérios pré-estabelecidos. Atualmente, a lista conta com 128 países e é encabeçada pelo Afeganistão, seguido pelo México. O Brasil está na 28ª posição. Durante 12 anos, Mendel ocupou o cargo de diretor sênior da ONG Artigo 19 e já colaborou com diversos órgãos internacionais como Banco Mundial e UNESCO. Entre suas contribuições, destacam-se estudos sobre direito à informação, regulação da mídia e comunicação pública, como "Concentration of media ownership and freedom of expression:
When the United States adopted its Freedom of Information Act in 1966, it was the third country i... more When the United States adopted its Freedom of Information Act in 1966, it was the third country in the world to put in place such a groundbreaking democratic mechanism for ensuring public access to the information held by government. As such, it was, by definition, a global leader in this area. Fifty years later, however, according to the internationally recognized tool for assessing legal frameworks for what has come to be known as the right to information, or RTI, the RTI Rating, the United States FOIA languishes in the fifty-first position globally. This article describes the way the RTI Rating works and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of the FOIA according to the rating. In some cases, these weaknesses appear to be derived, at least in part, from the age of the FOIA, and a correlation can be found between the performance of the United States law and other older laws. In other cases, further study is needed to identify the causes of the weaknesses.
v (1) Right of Access (1.1) Parliaments should pass as a priority effective access to information... more v (1) Right of Access (1.1) Parliaments should pass as a priority effective access to information legislation, in accordance with these Recommendations, giving everyone a right to access information held by public authorities. (2) Scope of Application (2.1) The obligations set out in access to information legislation should apply to all bodies that carry out public functions, regardless of their form or designation. In particular, bodies that provide public services under public contracts should, to that extent, be covered by the legislation. The Group commends the situation in South Africa, whereby even private bodies are obliged to disclose information where this is necessary for the exercise or protection of any right. (3) Routine Publication (3.1) Public bodies should be required by law to publish and disseminate widely a range of key information in a manner that is easily accessible to the public. Over time, the amount of information subject to such disclosure should be increased. (3.2) Public bodies should be required to develop publication schemes, with a view to increasing the amount of information subject to automatic publication over time. (3.3) Public bodies should make use of new information technologies so that, over time, all information that might be the subject of a request, and that is not covered by an exception, is available electronically. This will not only significantly promote public access to this information but also Initiative, the Commonwealth Secretariat, NGOs and the international community to provide assistance for the following: (15.3.a) Certain jurisdictions, such as small states, countries in transition and specific regions face greater challenges and needs for technical and expert assistance in the field of access to information and, therefore, the above bodies should give prompt attention to their requests for activities, information, targeted meetings and advice; (15.3.b) The Group recognized the need for better information on access and, as a result, recommended that Commonwealth-wide comparative studies be conducted in key thematic areas; and (15.3.c) The Group supported the idea of developing a code of record maintenance practice for the Commonwealth. Conclusion The Group recognizes the enormous variety that exists within the Commonwealth and that the implementation of these Recommendations for access to information will vary from country to country. At the same time, we believe that these Recommendations represent a foundational set of standards to which all Commonwealth jurisdictions should aspire. We call on all Commonwealth Parliaments and their Members to take effective measures, as soon as possible, to implement these Recommendations in practice.
This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Developmen... more This volume is a product of the staff of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/ The World Bank. The findings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this paper do not necessarily reflect the views of the Executive Directors of The World Bank or ...
Uploads
Papers by Toby Mendel