ADVANCING THE RIGHT OF
ACCESS TO INFORMATION IN SPAIN
WE CAMPAIGN FOR GREATER TRANSPARENCY, IN LAW AND IN PRACTICE
Court Victory: Spanish Government must be open about Open Government Partnership activities!
Madrid, 4 May 2017 – In an important victory for advancing government transparency in Spain, the Madrid High Court has ruled that the Spanish Government should provide Access Info Europe with a series of documents related to its participation in the Open Government Partnership (OGP). In a particularly interesting decision in Spain’s still young and evolving jurisprudence on the right
How two Spanish journalists got major scoops from just one information request!
Madrid/Perugia, 4 April 2017 - In March leading Spanish newspapers El País and El Confidencial published exclusive stories revealing never-before-seen information that exposed remarkable micro-management by the Spanish Cabinet (“Consejo de Ministros”) of decisions such as overspending on public procurement contracts and the granting or revocation of nationality. These stories – including a full page in the weekend edition of
OGP in Spain: More political will on participation, but legal battles for information are still underway!
[Article first published by the Open Government Partnership Blog] Madrid, 17 February 2017 - February has been a month in which numerous high level political figures in Spain have been found guilty and sent to jail on corruption charges, including King Felipe VI’s own brother-in-law sentenced to six years in prison (more info in English here), things are also moving
Over 50 Spanish constitutional experts urge recognition of access to information as a fundamental right
Madrid, 12 December 2016 - Over 50 of Spain’s top constitutional experts, lawyers, and academics have called upon the Spanish government to recognise access to information as a fundamental right in line with international jurisprudence which links the right to information to freedom of expression. The experts insist that there is no need for a constitutional reform as the Spanish
Civil society calls on Spanish Government to be open about the Open Government Partnership – again!
Madrid, 24 November 2016 – A letter from seventeen (17) Spanish civil society organisations sent today to the Spanish government calls for information about progress on the third Open Government Partnership Action Plan, as well as urging the Spanish authorities to send ministerial level representatives to the OGP summit, to be held in Paris on 7-9 December 2016. The letter
Spanish Transparency Council confirms that Agendas of Cabinet meetings of the Government is public information
Madrid, 14 November 2016 – Access Info today welcomed the recent ruling by the Spanish Transparency Council that agendas of Cabinet meetings constitute information that should be available for public scrutiny in accordance with the obligations set out in Spain’s Transparency Law. The Council’s important Decision rejected the arguments of the Ministry of the Presidency, concluding that publication of the
Cover photo: randomix via Flick (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)