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

The new guarantee provides, among other things, that all information shall be public, subject only to
temporary restrictions on access for public interest reasons as established by law, although personal
information shall be protected. Rapid systems for accessing information shall be put in place and these
shall be overseen by independent bodies. Access to information systems at all levels and branches of
government must be brought into line with this regulation within one year of its coming into force. 218 After
Sweden, 219 it is probably the most detailed and comprehensive constitutional guarantee of the right to
information in the world.
Mexico was one of the earlier countries in Latin America to pass a right to information law, with the signing
into law by President Fox of the Federal Transparency and Access to Public Government Information Law
(RTI Law) 220 in June 2002. The law, like the constitutional amendments, was adopted unanimously by both
chambers of the Congress, part of the commitment by the new administration to tackle corruption and
foster democracy in Mexico. The oversight body has the power under the Law to adopt regulations on
various matters including, importantly, on classifi cation. A regulation was adopted by IFAI (see below) in
June 2003 addressing a range of issues. 221 All 31 Mexican states, as well as the Federal District (Mexico
City) have also adopted right to information laws.
The law is among the more progressive right to information laws found anywhere. It includes a number
of positive features, including strong procedural guarantees, along with an innovative approach towards
ensuring application to all public bodies, regardless of constitutional status, and a prohibition on classifying
information needed for the investigation of grave violations of human rights or crimes against humanity.
It establishes a very strong and independent oversight mechanism in the form of the Instituto Federal
de Acceso a la Información Pública (IFAI; Federal Institute for Access to Public Information).222 Human
Rights Watch has applauded the law as follows:
The transparency law may prove to be the most important step Mexico has taken in its
transition to democracy since the 2000 election. 223
Implementation of the Law has generally been positive. A study by the Open Society Justice Initiative
suggests that the rate of ‘mute refusals’ (the failure to provide any answer to a request) was lower in
Mexico than any of the other 13 countries surveyed. 224 Mexico was also among the better performers in
terms of the percentage of requests met with a positive response. Similarly, a report on IFAI and promoting
a culture of transparency in Mexico stated, at its very outset: “In the family of freedom of information laws
globally, Mexico is a leader”. 225
The Right of Access
The Law provides generally in Article 2 that all information held by government may be accessed by
individuals. Article 1 sets out the purpose, which is to guarantee the right of access to information held by
government, autonomous constitutional or other legal bodies, or any other federal entity. Article 4 further
elaborates six ‘aims’ of the law, which are to ensure access to information through simple, expeditious
procedures, to promote transparent public administration, to protect personal information, to promote public
accountability, to improve the management of records, and to contribute to democratisation and the rule
of law in Mexico. Finally, Article 6 226 provides that when interpreting the Law, the principle of transparency
of public bodies must be favoured. It also provides that the Law must be interpreted in accordance with
the constitution, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 227 and a number of international treaties,
including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 228 the principal UN human rights treaty
guaranteeing freedom of expression.
Taken together, these provide a good backdrop to the Law and strong guidance to those tasked with
implementing it.
The Law defi nes information as everything contained in documents that public bodies generate, obtain,
acquire, transform or preserve. Documents, in turn, are defi ned as any records, regardless of form, that
relate to the exercise of the functions or activities of public bodies and public servants, regardless of their
81