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Using the right to know as an anti-corruption tool
Transparency International
Transparency International
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TI_2006.pdf
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Abstract
"A crucial question for anti-corruption activists is whether the rash of new access to information laws – over 50 laws adopted since 1990 bringing the total to over 65 laws globally1 – will serve as tools for obtaining information of use in fighting corruption. Or will these new transparency laws at least narrow the range of opportunities for the mismanagement and diversion of public funds by permitting public scrutiny of the budgets and administrative decision-making? The question cannot yet be fully answered, but the lessons learned by Transparency International Chapters and other civil society organizations in South East Europe and around the globe provide helpful pointers as to how to ensure that the fine provisions of a new access to information law are translated from the pages of the statute books to meaningful information in the hands of members of the public. It may seem self-evident that there needs to be a demand for information if a new access to information law is to function, but in a number of countries it has taken time to realize quite how crucial this is. In countries where the law is good on paper but has been introduced as part of a top-down government reform plan (Albania), international initiative (Bosnia2), or lobbying from a civil society elite (Peru) implementation has proved slow. By contrast in counties such as Romania and Bulgaria, where broad-based coalitions pressed for access laws, the less-than-perfect statutes were then hungrily used by civil society, journalists, and members of the general public alike. Monitoring in Bulgaria and Romania show that over 50% of requests filed receive the information sought3, which, for countries that relatively recently were closed and repressive communist systems and where maladministration and corruptions are still serious problems, is a very significant level of disclosure. The lesson is that a culture of openness information needs to learned, and this only happens when public bodies receive large numbers or requests and are challenged when information is not released. This lesson has been taken to heart by groups in countries such as Serbia, Croatia, and Macedonia, who started testing and monitoring as soon as the new laws came into force."
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2006
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3935711204
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With permission of the license/copyright holder