Study on Freedom of Information Laws Published
23-01-2004 (Paris)
UNESCO has published a study of freedom of information laws that examines best practices in 10 countries. Written by ARTICLE 19 Law Programme Director Toby Mendel, "Freedom on Information: A Comparative Legal Survey" analyses laws in Bulgaria, India, Japan, Mexico, Pakistan, South Africa, Sweden, Thailand, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The study that is available at http://www.article19.org/docimages/1707.pdf examinex international standards and trends, and outlines nine principles governing effective freedom-of-information laws. The survey also looks at the public disclosure policies of two international institutions - the United Nations Development Programme and the World Bank.
The right to freedom of information, commonly understood as the right to access information held by public bodies, is now widely recognised as a fundamental human right. There is a massive global trend towards legal recognition of this right as countries around the world that aspire to democracy either have adopted, or are in the process of reparing, freedom of information laws. This represents an enormous change from even ten years ago, when less than one-half of the freedom of information laws now in place had been adopted
The right to freedom of information, commonly understood as the right to access information held by public bodies, is now widely recognised as a fundamental human right. There is a massive global trend towards legal recognition of this right as countries around the world that aspire to democracy either have adopted, or are in the process of reparing, freedom of information laws. This represents an enormous change from even ten years ago, when less than one-half of the freedom of information laws now in place had been adopted
Related themes/countries
· Freedom of Expression: News Archives 2004
· Bulgaria: News Archives
· Sweden: News Archives
· South Africa: News Archives 2004
· Mexico: News Archive 2004
· Japan: News Archive
· India: News Archive 2004
· Pakistan: News Archive 2004
· Thailand: News Archive 2004
· United States of America: News Archives
· Freedom of Information: News Archives 2004
· United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: News Archives
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