News Articles from 2009
Una ley asegurará al ciudadano el control de la gestión pública
Público | 13/12/09
Spanish – La prometida ley de transparencia pública obligará a las Administraciones e instituciones públicas a facilitar a cualquier ciudadano toda información oficial que no esté expresamente sujeta a reserva por razones de Estado o de protección del derecho a la intimidad. Read more…
La ley de transparencia llegará en junio al Congreso
Público | 11/12/09
Spanish – El Gobierno espera llevar en junio al Congreso el proyecto de ley de transparencia, que debe garantizar el libre acesso a la información pública. Read more…
La Ley Española de acceso a la información empieza a perfilarse
Periodistas Fape | 10/12/09
Spanish – Según recoge la Asociación de la Prensa de Madrid (APM) en su portal digital, la Coalición Pro Acceso, de la que forma parte la APM junto con una treintena de asociaciones, plataformas y movimientos ciudadanos, se reunió hoy con la directora general de Coordinación Pública, María de los Ángeles Ahumada, dentro de la rueda de contactos que el Ministerio de la Presidencia está manteniendo con diversos organismos para preparar el borrador de la Ley de acceso a la información pública. Read more…
Se hubiera podido evitar
El País | 22/11/09
Spanish – Transparente es aquello que se comprende sin duda ni ambigüedad. En la vida pública, transparencia es la obligación de las autoridades y organismos relacionados con el Estado de realizar sus acciones de forma que puedan ser sometidas a un control directo. Read More…
Released Documents Contain Nothing Controversial
BBC News | 18/11/09
English – Intriguing minor mysteries about the operation of the European Commission’s access to information processes which is revealed in a report published yesterday by the campaign group Access Info Europe. Access Info asked the commission’s main policy DGs for their internal guidance on how to handle requests made under the regulation on public access to EU documents. Read more…
No debemos resignarnos a la corrupción
El País | 11/11/09
Spanish – La corrupción es como un cáncer que avanza imparable si no se toman medidas para detenerlo. Las redes de corrupción se expanden y van controlando empresas, municipios, Comunidades Autónomas y hasta unidades esenciales del Estado si los partidos, los Gobiernos y la sociedad no se alían para detener esta enfermedad social. Read more…
El Gobierno tendrá una Ley de Acceso a la Información antes de fin de año
ABC | 09/11/09
Spanish – La ley de transparencia incluye una autoridad independiente que vigile el cumplimiento de una norma que puede transformar la democracia española. Read more…
Norge: gir mest, vet minst
NY TID | 30/10/09
Norwegian – Nordmenn gir mest bistand per hode i hele verden. Likevel havner vi på jumboplass når det gjelder å gjøre informasjon tilgjengelig om hvordan milliardene faktisk brukes.Nordmenn gir mest bistand per hode i hele verden. Likevel havner vi på jumboplass når det gjelder å gjøre informasjon tilgjengelig om hvordan milliardene faktisk brukes. Read more…
Advancing and Defending the Right to Know
Centre for International Media | Oct/Nov 2009
English – Interview with Lydia Medland, researcher for Access Info Europe, where she coordinates the Freedom of Information Advocates Network. Based in Madrid, Spain, she has conducted extensive research into cases involving freedom of information, transparency, and human rights. Read more…
Inminente ley de Acceso a la Información
ABC | 25/10/09
Spanish – El Consejo de Ministros tiene previsto remitir a las Cortes el proyecto de Ley de Transparencia y acceso a la Información Pública «en próximas semanas», antes incluso que la polémica reforma de la Ley de Libertad Religiosa, admiten fuentes gubernamentales. España y Grecia son los dos únicos países de la Unión Europea que no tienen regulado ese derecho. Read more…
12 States Sign World’s First Treaty on Access to Information
n-ost.de | 19/06/09
English – 12 European countries today became the first states to sign the world’s first treaty on access to information; the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents at a meeting of Ministers of Justice held in Tromso, Norway. Read more…
see also i-policy.org for a map of the countries which signed the treaty.
Twelve CoE member states sign the Convention on Access to Official Documents
cyberlaw.org.uk | 19/06/09
English – Twelve Council of Europe member states today signed the Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS n° 205), the first binding international legal instrument laying down a general right of access to official documents. Read more…
Escaños bajo sospecha
El País | 20/05/09
Spanish – Transparencia Internacional afirma que los parlamentos son la segunda institución peor valorada tras los partidos. ¿Están a salvo las arcas públicas del resto de países europeos de abusos similares a los cometidos por los parlamentarios británicos? Read more…
Prepoznavanjper Avic
Media Watch | May 2009
Slovenian – Read more…
European Court of Human Rights: Right to Information Essential to Free Expression
freedomofinfo.org | 14/04/09
English – In a landmark decision today, the European Court of Human Rights of the Council of Europe found in favor of Társaság a Szabadságjogokért, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, in its complaint against the Hungarian government over a submission to the Hungarian Constitutional Court filed by a member of parliament concerning drug policy. This is the first time the European Court of Human Rights has unanimously recognized that freedom of expression, as mandated by Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, also includes the right to information from public bodies. Read more…
Big Victory for Freedom of Information at European Court
i-times.org | 14/04/09
English – In a decision announced today, the European Court of Human Rights ruled that when public officials withhold information needed for public debate, they have the obligation to release it to those who request it, or else it would be a violation of a fundamental right. Read more…
Cómo hacerse la foto y salir corriendo
El País | 16/03/09
Spanish – En las grandes cumbres de donantes algunos gobernantes hacen sonoras promesas de ayuda a países necesitados, que luego incumplen – Faltan controles para frenar el ‘marketing solidario’. Read more…
The Law can never be secret
The Access Initiative | 11/03/09
English – The European Court of Justice ruled on 10 March 2009 that it is illegal to enforce against individuals a law which has not been made public. The case referred to rules governing what cannot be carried onto aircraft, which for years since they were first adopted in 2002 were kept secret, violating the fundamental principle that a law is not a law until it has been published. Read more…
Malevolent voices that despise our freedoms
The Times | 27/02/09
English – To mark the Convention on Modern Liberty, children’s author Philip Pullman wrote this article.
Bilgi edinme hakkı
Kıbrıs | 29/01/09
Turkish – Kıbrıs Türk toplumu düne göre değişim gösterdi. Ancak yeterli değildir değişim yolunda alınan yol. Read more…
Public Secrets
Barcelona Metropolitan | Jan 09. Also printed in Costa Brava Resident, March 09
English – It may require some time filing a request for the information and poring over records, but it is the right of every US citizen to demand, and be provided with, full disclosure about how public monies—federal or municipal—were spent. In Spain, it’s nobody’s business, and the Ministry of Defence will not even bother responding to such questions, even when they come from Spanish journalists. Read more…
Verdrag betreffende toegang tot officiële documenten open voor ondertekening
psw.ugent.be | Jan 09
Dutch – Op 27 november 2008 verleende het Comité van Ministers van de Raad van Europa zijn goedkeuring aan de “Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents”. Read more…