Category Archives: News

Almost 90 countries around the world have enacted access to information (ATI) legislation, and in many of these countries, reforms and amendments are either being considered or have been passed. However, even minor adjustments to the legal framework around ATI laws can have substantial impact on how the law is implemented and used. While access … Continue reading →

CLD and AJI have just completed three training sessions for journalists and civil society organisations in Jakarta, Surabaya and Lampung. The training seeks to build civil society demand for information under the Indonesian right to information law, which came into force last year. It is part of a wider programme on openness that CLD is … Continue reading →

The popularization of the internet has revolutionized the concept of free expression by providing unprecedented opportunities for the communication of ideas. In order to assist legislators, judges, and civil society groups in adapting to this new reality, the Centre for Law and Democracy participated in drafting the 11th Joint Declaration by the four specialized mandates … Continue reading →

It is legitimate for states to exempt information whose release would be prejudicial to national security from their disclosure laws. But in order to insure that this exemption is not abused it is important to develop an acceptably narrow definition of what constitutes national security. To this end, the Centre for Law and Democracy has … Continue reading →

The Centre for Law and Democracy is pleased to announce the publication of the second edition of “Public Service Broadcasting: a comparative legal survey”. This edition, authored by CLD’s Executive Director Toby Mendel, explores the legal and regulatory systems governing public service broadcasters in eight different countries around the world. The book examines how different … Continue reading →

A Journalist Protection Law prepared by the Iraqi Syndicate of Journalists and endorsed by the government of Iraq, has been laid before the Iraqi Parliament for its consideration. This note by CLD points out that the draft Law includes a number of important protections for journalists. But it defines a journalist as a member of … Continue reading →

One of the first priorities of the new Tunisian High Commission for the Realisation of the Objectives of the Revolution and Democratic Transition has been to prepare a new press law (in Arabic) to replace the repressive 1975 law that has been used for over 30 years as a mechanism of control. Unfortunately, despite its … Continue reading →

In January 2011, the Mongolian Ministry of Justice submitted to Parliament a Draft Law of Mongolia on Information Transparency and Freedom of Information. This is the latest development relating to ongoing discussions around adopting a right to information (RTI) law that have been taking place in Mongolia for many years now. This Comment by CLD … Continue reading →

The Right to Information (RTI) Legislation Rating Methodology (available here) is a tool to assess the overall legal framework for the right to information, based on how well that framework gives effect to the right to access information held by public authorities. The seven key elements of the right of access to information are: the … Continue reading →

Since being founded in January 2010, CLD has already produced a lot of knowledge tools. An important contribution to understanding freedom of expression was a research piece on restrictions on freedom of expression, analysing the different aspects of such restrictions. Other in-depth research includes a paper on media concentration and a joint publication with other … Continue reading →

We believe this is the most extensive cross-country exercise to access public budget information ever conducted. The six questions focus on three thematic areas closely related to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, maternal health, development assistance and the environment. The three lead organisations, CLD, Access Info Europe and the IBP have worked closely … Continue reading →

Providing analyses of draft or adopted laws and policies affecting foundational rights for democracy is an important part of CLD’s work. So far this year, it is already produced 11 such analyses (these are described under Legal Analyses). These analyses assess the proposed rules in relation to international and constitutional standards, providing recommendations so as … Continue reading →