Category Archives: News

24 October 2024. A new Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) on Freedom of Expression for Parliaments and Their Members is being launched on Monday, 28 October, and everyone who is interested in this subject is encouraged to take the course, which is available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese (see links below). The course was … Continue reading →

3 October 2024. You are invited to a webinar on international freedom of expression standards which provide particular protection to journalists, with a focus on whistleblower protections, protection of sources and anti-SLAPP measures.  The webinar will be held on 10 October 2024 at 8:30 Eastern Time/13:30 Central European Time. An agenda for the webinar is … Continue reading →

26 September 2024. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) would like to wish everyone a happy International Right to Know Day (IRTKD), 2024. First established in 2002 by civil society organisations, IRTKD has grown in stature and recognition, ultimately being formally recognised by the United Nations General Assembly as a formal UN day, International … Continue reading →

25 September 2024. Today, as a pre-International Right to Know Day event, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) is releasing its Principles on Right to Information for Small Island Developing States: The Case of the Pacific. The right to access information held by public authorities, or the right to information (RTI), is a human … Continue reading →

23 September 2024. Three of Atlantic Canada’s access to information oversight offices are coming together during this year’s Right to Know Week for a live virtual panel discussion. Joining them will be a representative from one of the world’s leading access to information organizations, the Centre for Law and Democracy. The discussion will take place … Continue reading →

You are invited to CLD’s webinar on 18 July, Introduction to Creating a Media Lawyers’ Network. This webinar provides a general introduction to the concept of creating a national professional network of media lawyers, steps which can be taken to establish one and resources developed by CLD to support the formation of such networks.  Register … Continue reading →

24 June 2024.  The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) has submitted an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief to the Constitutional Court of Colombia in a case in which a journalist was blocked on X (formerly Twitter) by the official account of a regional government. Official government accounts are part of the wider … Continue reading →

16 May 2024. Today, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) is releasing its Observations on the draft Access to Information Policy (and accompanying draft Directive), which we submitted to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) as part of its Consultation on the draft Policy. The draft Policy is generally robust and includes … Continue reading →

7 May 2024. Kyrgyzstan adopted a new Law on the Right of Access to Information which entered into force in January and which replaced the earlier, 2007 right to information (RTI) law. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) has updated its assessment on the RTI Rating, which measures the strength of legal frameworks for … Continue reading →

3 May 2024. Today, the specialised mandates tasked with promoting and protecting freedom of expression at the UN, OAS, OSCE and African Commission launched their annual Joint Declaration, this year on the Climate Crisis and Freedom of Expression. The Joint Declaration, which was drafted with the assistance of the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), … Continue reading →

15 April 2024.  The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), at the request of our local partners, prepared an analysis of the Republic of Congo’s 2001 Law on Freedom of Information and Communication and more recent amending legislation based on international human rights standards, in particular relating to freedom of expression. Although the Law, as … Continue reading →

26 March 2024. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) has joined a civil society letter to Media Freedom Coalition Member States calling for action on the safety of journalists in Gaza. The letter notes that while “on December 5, 2023, 24 members of the Media Freedom Coalition expressed concern about the plight of journalists … Continue reading →

4 March 2024.  The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) has submitted a Note on the Inter-American Development Bank’s (IDB) Revised Proposal for its Access to Information Policy. The Revised Proposal will, when adopted, replace the current 2010 Access to Information Policy. An initial draft proposal was released by the IDB in 2022 and CLD … Continue reading →

15 January 2024. A new right to information (RTI) Bill was presented to Panama’s National Assembly in August 2023 but was then withdrawn the following month due to civil society pressure. At the request of local civil society groups, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) prepared an analysis of the Bill, with the aim … Continue reading →

8 January 2024. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD), an international human rights organisation based in Halifax, Nova Scotia, will host up to four interns for the summer of 2024. The position will involve a range of substantive legal work in areas such as freedom of expression, media law, digital rights and access to … Continue reading →

20 December 2023.  On 15 December 2023, Zambia finally signed its Access to Information Act into law, following years of public debate about the importance of such legislation. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) is today pleased to launch publicly its Analysis of the Access to Information Act, 2023. We also did an RTI … Continue reading →

29 November 2023. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) is today launching publicly its Submission to the Review of Nova Scotia’s Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Legislation (FOIPOP Act). The Submission, which was provided in response to a call for inputs from the government of Nova Scotia, Canada, assesses the FOIPOP Act, … Continue reading →

20 November 2023. The military junta which is ruling Myanmar adopted another set of regressive amendments to the erstwhile progressive Broadcasting Act last week, following their first set of amendments in November 2021. The current amendments give the military junta full control over the National Broadcasting Council, which was in the original version of the … Continue reading →

16 November 2023. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) has submitted Observations on the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI’s) draft Access to Information Policy. This draft would replace the current Access to Information Policy, which dates from 2020. The Observations welcome a number of positive proposed changes to the Policy but also … Continue reading →

23 October 2023. The Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) is today launching its Note on the Right to Information (RTI) Act of the Maldives. Originally prepared to support a planned official review of the RTI Act, which may now be on hold, CLD is disseminating the Note in the hope of stimulating further discussion … Continue reading →