Category Archives: News

Thirty years ago today, on 28 June 1982, Canada adopted the Access to Information Act, recognising the right of citizens to access information held by government. This progressive and hugely important step placed Canada among a small vanguard of nations that have recognised the right to information, a right that fundamentally underpins a healthy democratic … Continue reading →

Today, the 13th annual Joint Declaration by the four specialised mandates of the UN, OAS, OSCE and African Commission tasked with promoting and protecting freedom of expression was launched in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. This latest Declaration, prepared with the assistance of the Centre for Law and Democracy and ARTICLE 19, expresses “abhorrence … Continue reading →

In a News Release of 14 June 2012, the Honourable Felix Collins, Minister of Justice of Newfoundland, commented on a media report citing research by the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD). The research, the RTI Rating, involves an assessment of all national access to information laws, undertaken by CLD and another highly respected international … Continue reading →

At a time when the right to information is being strengthened around the world, the government of Newfoundland’s Bill 29 would be a major step backwards for government transparency according to an assessment by the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD).

In the aftermath of the revolution that forced Yemen’s long standing President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, from power, one of the main demands of the Yemeni people has been for greater government accountability. On 24 April 2012, Yemen’s legislature passed the Law on the Right of Access to Information, which is currently awaiting presidential assent before … Continue reading →

CLD recently published an analysis of the draft Somali Communications Act of 2012. The draft, which was prepared by the African Union/United Nations Information Support Team, at the request of the Minister of Information, Posts and Telecommunications, provides only a very framework set of rules for broadcasting, focusing instead largely on telecommunications. We understand that … Continue reading →

The Government of Myanmar has made a strong public commitment to undertake a programme of democratisation, including through creating an environment in which freedom of expression is respected. A key part of this will be to create an enabling legal environment for a free media, adopting new democratic laws and repealing or amending the many … Continue reading →

CLD and AJI held a workshop in Jakarta today as part of a project which has trained local groups working in different sectors to make requests for information. The project has created a significant database of requests for information, made to different public bodies and focusing on different issues. A study of their experience was … Continue reading →

The Centre for Law and Democracy today published a major Report examining the Internet from the perspective of human rights. It analyses the critical role that the Internet plays in the actualisation of fundamental human rights, particularly the right to freedom of expression, and concludes that there is a human right of access to the … Continue reading →

The Centre for Law and Democracy today released the results of a comparative study which highlights problems with Alberta’s access to information legislation. The study compared access to information legislation from Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia using the RTI-Rating Methodology, an analytical tool developed to assess the strength of access laws. Alberta’s Freedom … Continue reading →

CLD today published a comparative report on international and comparative constitutional guarantees of the right to information. The report, Entrenching RTI: An Analysis of Constitutional Protections of the Right to Information, is part of CLD’s ongoing work to support right to information reform in Egypt. At the same time, the standards outlined in the report … Continue reading →

As part of its ongoing work to strengthen Indonesia’s democratic institutions, CLD today published a comparative analysis of the rules relating to paid political advertising, with a specific focus on elections, Regulation of Paid Political Advertising: A Survey. The analysis was compiled at the behest of members of Indonesia’s Press Council, which is faced with … Continue reading →

As part of a process of reforming the country’s RTI legislation, the government of Montenegro has prepared a draft Law on Free Access to Information, an update to the 2005 Law on Free Access to Information. The draft Law is currently being debated and discussed by several stakeholders, including representatives from government, NGOs and intergovernmental … Continue reading →

The International Media Mission (IMM) to Nepal has prepared detailed comments on the constitutional proposals on freedom of expression, media freedom and the right to information, prepared by the Constituent Assembly. The comments, prepared by Toby Mendel of the Centre for Law and Democracy on behalf of the IMM, highlight the positive nature of the … Continue reading →

The Centre for Law and Democracy launched a detailed comparative Study on the regulation of broadcasting to protect children at a workshop organised by UNESCO and the Brazilian Ministry of Justice yesterday. The Study analyses international standards in this area and compares the practice of six democracies with the system in place in Brazil. It … Continue reading →

CLD Executive Director Toby Mendel recently provided a witness statement to the UK Information Tribunal in support of an appeal against refusal lodged by Pamela Bartlett Quintanilla of Access Info Europe. The request was for minutes taken by UK representatives at the Working Party on Information meetings in the years 2010, 2011 and what has … Continue reading →

Right to information laws in Africa and the Americas are falling below the standards set by regional human rights bodies, while in Europe the standards themselves are weaker than the better right to information laws, according to a new analysis by human rights organisations Access Info Europe (Spain) and the Centre for Law and Democracy … Continue reading →

A recent analysis by CLD of a draft right to information law for Egypt, prepared at the request of the group of civil society actors who developed the draft law, concludes that it largely reflects international standards, scoring 129 out of a possible total of 150 on our RTI Rating, which would put it in … Continue reading →

A gathering of judges from Indonesia’s top courts, as well as leading government officials, met in Jakarta on 8 March 2012 to attend a workshop on exceptions to the right to information. The seminar, organised by Supreme Court, CLD and the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL), was held at the invitation of the Supreme … Continue reading →

An international conference on the right to information in Indonesia yesterday highlighted the importance of proper interpretation of exceptions to the right of access, as well as the experiences of public bodies in implementing the Indonesian RTI law. Two significant publications on the same themes were also launched at the conference, Interpretation of Exceptions to … Continue reading →