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

Access to medical records, for example, can help individuals make decisions about treatment, fi nancial
planning and so on.
Finally, an aspect of the right to information that is often neglected is the use of this right to facilitate effective
business practices. Commercial users are, in many countries, one of the most signifi cant user groups.
Public bodies hold a vast amount of information of all kinds, much of which relates to economic matters
and which can be very useful for businesses. A right to information helps promote a fl uid information fl ow
between government and the business sector, maximising the potential for synergies. This is an important
benefi t of right to information legislation, and helps answer the concerns of some governments about the
cost of implementing such legislation.
These rationales for right to information legislation apply equally, if not with more force, to less developed
as to more developed countries. Democracy is not the preserve of a few select countries but a right of
citizens everywhere. Every country in the world needs adequate checks and balances on the exercise of
public power, including through the right to information and the public oversight this enables. The right to
information can be particularly effective in exposing corruption where there are few other safeguards, as
grassroots experience in India with this right has amply demonstrated. 10
The right to information is most commonly associated with the right to request and receive information
from public bodies. This is a key modality by which the right is fulfi lled but it is not the only one. Most right to
information laws also place an obligation on public bodies to publish information on a proactive or routine
basis, even in the absence of a request. The scope of this varies but it usually extends to key information
about how they operate, their policies, opportunities for public participation in their work and how to make
a request for information. ‘Pushing’ information out in this way is increasingly being recognised as one of
the more effective ways to enhance access to information held by public bodies.
One further aspect of this right is slowly starting to emerge. Unlike the other two aspects of the right, which
relate to information already held by public bodies, this third aspect posits a positive obligation on States to
ensure that certain key categories of information are available. ARTICLE 19, for example, has long argued
that States are under a substantive positive obligation to ensure that citizens have access to information
about human rights violations. 11 The ‘right to truth’ has also been recognised by international courts in the
human rights context, and also in the context of environmental threats. 12 This is of particular importance
in the aftermath of a period of serious human rights violations, as part of a renewed commitment to
democracy and to respect rights. In such cases, it may not be enough simply to provide access to information
already held by public bodies; it may be necessary to go further and collect and compile new information
to ascertain the truth about the past abuses. The importance attached to this is refl ected, among other
things, in the truth commissions that have been appointed in a number of countries.
The fi rst chapter of this book, International Standards and Trends, analyses the international basis for
claiming the right to information as a fundamental human right. The analysis reviews authoritative
international statements, and the decisions of international courts and quasi-judicial bodies, as well
as relevant national developments. The second chapter probes the specifi c implications of the various
standards for right to information legislation, analysing this within the framework of nine right to information
principles.
These chapters are followed by analyses of the laws of 14 different countries from all regions of the world,
namely Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, India, Jamaica, Japan, Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Sweden,
Thailand, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States. The choice of countries was based on a
number of factors including geographic distribution, progressive and/or long-standing legislation and the
familiarity of the author with the country/legislation. Each country section is organised under the same set
of headings. A brief introduction is followed by headings on the right of access, procedural guarantees, the
duty to publish, exceptions, appeals, sanctions and protections, and promotional measures.
The country/intergovernmental organisation sections are followed by a chapter on Comparative Analysis
which highlights similarities and differences in the various laws, following the same structure as the country
chapters. In describes, in particular, the main approaches for implementing the principles underpinning
the right to information, as well as some of the more innovative systems that have been tried in different
countries.
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