ADVANCING THE RIGHT OF
ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN SPAIN
WE CAMPAIGN FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY, IN LAW AND IN PRACTICE
Spain: Access Info and Transparency Council meet to discuss the independent oversight of the right to information
Access Info’s Helen Darbishire yesterday met with the new director of Spain’s Transparency Council, José Luis Rodríguez Álvarez, to discuss reform of the Transparency Law and also recent concerns about the manner by which the new appointments to the Council had been made.
Concern re Independence of Spain’s Transparency Council
Access Info Europe is seriously concerned about recent changes to key personnel in Spain’s Transparency Council, which raise the spectre of an attack on the independence of the Council, and points to the urgent need to reform the process by which its directors are appointed.
CALL for Participants – Freedom of Information Youth Project!
Are you between 18 and 30 years old, passionate about human rights and journalism, and resident in either Malta or Spain? Then we are looking for you! The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation and Access Info Europe, two civil society organisations based in Malta and Madrid, are looking for youths interested in participating in the one-year Freedom of Information Youth Project!
Spain’s Ambitious four-year OGP Action Plan Adopted
Spain has adopted an ambitious four-year Open Government Action Plan, replete with measures called for by Access Info, including reform of the 2013 Transparency Law, ratification of the Convention on Access to Official Documents, new laws on lobby regulation and whistleblower protection, and the opening of key data, including the company register and some health service data.
What’s going on in Spain? Ratification of the Council of Europe Convention, a New 4-year OGP Action Plan, and a new Director for the Transparency Council
The global news headlines might be talking about the worrying rise in coronavirus infections in Madrid - and the new lockdown - but there is also a lot of good news for transparency activists coming out of Spain this week, beautifully timed to coincide with International Access to Information Day on 28 September.
International Access to Information Day 2020: European governments urged to ratify Convention on Access to Official Documents
On the occasion of International Access to Information Day, the pro-transparency organisation Access Info Europe is calling on the governments of the European region to sign and ratify the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents, which will come into force on 1 December 2020, and to commit to strengthening this fundamental right.
Cover photo: randomix via Flick (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)