Parliament and Access to Information: Working for Transparent Governance

Between 2000 and 2003, the World Bank Institute (WBI) and the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) collaborated on a series of projects that aimed to foster a better relationship between Parliament and the media as a crucial component of any functioning democratic society. The WBI and the CPA organised a Study Group on the topic of Access to Information in July 2004, hosted and supported by the Parliament of Ghana. This working paper highlights the ideas and presents the conclusions of the Study Group regarding the contribution Parliamentarians can make to transparent governance. It focuses on access to information legislation, as well as practical measures to implement such legislation and more generally to promote open governance.

This report states that "the right to access information held by public bodies is a fundamental human right, crucial in its own right and also as a cornerstone of democracy, participation and good governance. Recognition of this key right is essential to empowering all members of society, including Parliamentarians, to strengthening parliamentary democracy, to reversing practices of government by the few and to improving the relationship between Parliament and the media. It is essential that legislation be adopted to give proper effect to this right and countries around the world, and within the Commonwealth in particular, have either adopted, or are in the process of adopting, such legislation." The study group saw Parliament as a key stakeholder in promoting open governance and argue that there are a number of ways in which both Parliaments should themselves operate transparently and Parliamentarians should play a larger role in ensuring openness.

The Study Group offered a wide variety of reccomendations, which included:

• Parliaments should pass effective access to information legislation giving everyone a right to access information held by public authorities.
• The obligations set out in access to information legislation should apply to all bodies that carry out public functions.
• Public bodies should be required by law to publish and disseminate widely a range of key information in a manner that is easily accessible to the public.
• No one should have to state reasons for their request for information and public bodies should be required to respond to requests within set time periods.
• Costs for access to information should not be so high as to deter requesters.
• There should be a concerted effort by government and public bodies to address the problem of a culture of secrecy. This should include comprehensive training programmes on implementation of the access to information regime, as well as the importance of openness in society.
• Public education campaigns should be undertaken to ensure that the public are aware of their right to access information.
• There should be an effective independent administrative body which should be allocated a range of statutory functions to ensure appropriate implementation of access to information legislation.
• Parliaments have a key role to play in overseeing and reviewing access to information regimes and in ensuring the public’s right to know is guaranteed. Parliaments should take these responsibilities
  seriously and actively pursue their oversight functions.

The Study Group also discussed a number of programmatic possibilities. Technical assistance on a range of issues - including training public officials, addressing the issue of laws that are inconsistent with the right to access information and improving record management systems - could contribute to better implementation of access to information laws. Another idea was to develop public educational materials and strategies for public awareness-raising. One specific idea would be regional seminars on access to information. Such seminars could be held, for example, in the Caribbean and/or the Pacific regions. Bringing together decision-makers and NGOs from these regions, as well as international experts, the seminars would highlight the need to adopt access to information laws, promote better understanding of best practices in this regard and allow for sharing of regional experiences with openness. Another suggestion was the idea of publishing comparative studies on Commonwealth practices and experiences regarding key thematic access to information issues. The Study Group also supported the idea of the development of a Commonwealth model code of practice for record management to assist countries wishing to reform their current information systems.