Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey - Federation of ...

Introduction
The importance of the right to information or the right to know is an increasingly constant refrain in the
mouths of development practitioners, civil society, academics, the media and even governments. What is
this right, is it really a right and how have governments sought to give effect to it? These are some of the
questions this book seeks to address.
There has been a veritable revolution in recent years in terms of the right to information, commonly
understood as the right to access information held by public bodies. Whereas in 1990 only 13 countries
had adopted national right to information laws, upwards of 70 such laws have now been adopted globally,
and they are under active consideration in another 20-30 countries. In 1990, no inter-governmental
organisation had recognised the right to information, now all of the multilateral development banks and a
number of other international fi nancial institutions have adopted information disclosure policies. In 1990,
the right to information was seen predominantly as an administrative governance reform whereas today it
is increasingly being seen as a fundamental human right.
Even the terminology is starting to change. The term ‘freedom of information’ has historically been common
usage and this is refl ected in the title of this book, retained from the fi rst edition. However, the term ‘right
to information’ is now increasingly being used not only by activists, but also by offi cials. It is, for example,
refl ected the title of title of the 2005 India law granting access to information held by public bodies. This
version of the book, while retaining the original title, consistently refers to the right to information rather
than freedom of information.
Since the fi rst edition of this book was published in 2003, these changes, which were already well underway,
have become more profound and widespread. The adoption of the fi rst right to information law by a country
in the Middle East, namely by Jordan in 2007, 4 so that the trend now extends to every commonly referenced
geographic region of the world, is emblematic of this. Very signifi cant developments in terms of recognition
of access to information as a fundamental human right have also occurred since the fi rst edition was
published. These include the fi rst decision by an international court recognising the right to information as
an aspect of the general right to freedom of expression, along with decisions by superior courts along the
same lines, and more and more emphatic statements by authoritative international bodies and offi cials
about the status of this right.
The chapters on International Standards and Trends, Features of a Right to Information Regime and
Comparative Analysis have all been updated in the second edition to refl ect these developments. The
second edition also surveys the laws of 14 countries in all regions of the world, up from the 10 surveyed
in 2003 and covering more regions of the world. The country analyses are more detailed and based on a
standardised template.
There are a number of good reasons for growing acceptance of the right to information. If anything, it is
surprising that it has taken so long for such an important underpinning of democracy to gain widespread
3