Centre for Law and Democracy

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 passed of 2012. Ms. Quintanilla also requested a list of attendees from the various Working Party on Information meetings that have taken place in 2011 and 2012.
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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 (Canada).
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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 fourth place globally as compared to countries which have adopted such laws.
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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 Court.
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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 the Right to Information: Experiences in Indonesia and Elsewhere (CLD and ICEL) and Implementation of the Right to Information: An Assessment of Three Indonesian Public Authorities (CLD and Yayasan 28).
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Nepal is currently at an important stage in its democratic development, as a nation struggling with constitutional crises and slow progress in terms of promoting freedom of expression. Today, the International Media Mission visiting Nepal issued a Joint Statement, addressing key law and policy issues including strengthening the constitution and limiting the scope of classification of information.
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The Centre for Law and Democracy has published its analysis of the draft Kenyan Freedom of Information Bill. The draft Bill was prepared following a wide stakeholder consultation in November 2011, and it represents a harmonised version of earlier government and civil society drafts. It is hoped that the current process will finally bring to fruition the long-standing campaign for right to information legislation in Kenya
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The Centre for Law and Democracy is very pleased to note that the Burmese government has just announced that it is freeing 691 prisoners in a general amnesty, including a large number of high profile dissidents. Although this is a positive development, it is important to note that up to 1500 political prisoners remain in jail in Burma.
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In recent years, the openness of international financial institutions (IFIs) has improved considerably. An ongoing problem area, however, is the overbroad regimes of exceptions in IFI transparency policies and, in particular, the exceptions relating to internal deliberations and third-party commercial information. A new report by CLD – Openness Policies of the International Financial Institutions: Failing to Make the Grade with Exceptions – examines how these exceptions are dealt with at the national level, contrasting that with the much more secretive approach of the IFIs.
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Although the human rights situation in Iraq improved in the aftermath of the removal of Saddam Hussein, recent years have witnessed a troubling erosion of the fundamental freedoms which the new constitution was meant to have established. This report examines five pieces of legislation (one of which has already been passed) which have the potential to negatively impact freedom of expression and the right to assembly, and contrasts the restrictions and regulations contained therein with constitutional and international human rights standards. CLD hopes that this report will bring attention to the problems with these laws, particularly with regards to the legislative proposals that are still up for debate.
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As part of the continuing consultation process over Cambodia’s proposed Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO law) CLD and Lawyers Rights Watch Canada (LRWC) have drafted an open letter to senior officials in the Cambodian government. CLD and LRWC note that this newest version of the law, the fourth such draft, includes some improvements. However, the law as currently proposed still violates the fundamental right of freedom of association, and contains problematic provisions, particularly surrounding registration requirements. This letter, like its predecessors, offers substantive critiques of the proposed law. We hope its recipients in the Cambodian government will take heed of these problems before the proposal is passed into law.

Click here to read the Open Letter

An international conference hosted by the Centre for Law and Democracy and Yayasan SET called on the Indonesian government to drop its long-standing initiative to adopt a secrecy law. In the one-day meeting on 5 December 2011, several speakers noted that Law No. 14 of 2008 on Public Information Disclosure already provided sufficient protection to legitimate confidentiality interests.
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The Open Government Partnership, a global transparency initiative jointly sponsored by US President Obama and Brazilian President Rousseff, must significantly improve its internal access to information policy to meet the standards it is advancing according to an analysis by CLD and Access Info Europe.
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Having previously commented on the need for the Cambodian government to reconsider passage of their draft Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations, the Centre for Law and Democracy welcomed news that the Ministry of the Interior is inviting representatives of civil society to present comments on its newest (fourth) draft of the Law.
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The Centre for Law and Democracy today published its analysis of a draft Sri Lankan Freedom of Information Act. The draft Act was prepared by UNP Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya, an opposition Member of Parliament. Mr. Jayasuriya has been trying for some time, so far without success, to have this Bill introduced into Parliament. Although the draft Act is unlikely to move forward, it has generated important debate in Sri Lanka about this key human rights issue and will be discussed at a National Seminar on the right to information to be held on 18 November 2011.
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The Centre for Law and Democracy and the Media Alliance of Zimbabwe brought together a range of groups working on different issues in Bvumba, Zimbabwe on November 10 to discuss a broad-based campaign on the right to information. The groups – working on issues such as HIV-AIDs, the disabled, media freedom, faith-based groups and economic rights – agreed to work together to build a strong network of support for law reform in this area.
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The Centre for Law and Democracy today published its analysis of a draft Afghan Access to Information Law. The draft Law was created from two previous drafts, one prepared by civil society and one by government. The aim is to present a consensus version in the hope that this will help ensure that it becomes a legislative priority.
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The Centre for Law and Democracy today released Version 2 of a Commentary on the Charter of Human Rights and Principles for the Internet, providing a detailed analysis of the implications of a range of fundamental human rights for the Internet. The Charter itself was prepared by the Internet Rights and Principles Coalition, which in turn arose out of the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), a tri-partite gathering bringing together civil society, governments and the commercial sector to discuss regulatory issues relating to the Internet.
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A legal analysis of the cases of five Burmese video-journalists, who remain in prison despite the release of some 200 political prisoners by the Burmese government, discloses flagrant breaches of human rights. The Note, by the Centre for Law and Democracy, found widespread abuses of the rights to freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom from torture. The violations result from both the Burmese government’s abusive application of laws that restrict freedom of expression, and their capricious application of broader legislation to target political opponents.
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The largest global monitoring of the right of access to information in practice, the Ask Your Government! 6 Question Campaign has found widespread violations of the right to information with only 1 in 4 requests resulting in provision of full information.
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