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How has the topic of access to information been addressed
at the OAS?
Over the past several years the OAS has contributed
extensive effort towards development of the right of access
to public information.
The right of access to information was introduced in the
Declaration and
Plan of Action of the Quebec Summit of the Americas
(2001) and strongly reconfirmed in the
Declaration of the Nuevo Leon Summit of the Americas
(2004).
Under General Assembly Resolutions
AG/Res. 1932 (XXXIII-0/03),
AG/Res. 2057 (XXXIV-0/04) ,
AG/Res. 2121 (XXXV-O/05), AG/RES. 2252 (XXXVI-O/06),
AG/RES. 2288 (XXXVII-O/07),
AG/Res. 2418 (XXXVIII-O/08),
AG/Res.
2514 (XXXIX-O/09), and
AG/Res.
2607 (XL-O/10)* access to information was placed on the
agenda of the Committee of Political and Juridical affairs,
affirming the relevance and importance of the subject.
Pursuant to these resolutions, the Department of
International Law has coordinated or participated in the
following projects that contributed to the advancement of
the topic of access to information at the OAS:
• Joint Document Recommendations on Access to Information
[CP/CAJP-2599/08], which provides detailed information on
the right to access to information, as well as policy and
legislative recommendations
• Report on the Questionnaire “Legislation on and Best
Practices of Access to Public Information of the Commission
on Juridical and Political Affairs” [CP/CAJP-2608/08], which
contains answers by the States and civil society to the
questionnaire as well as recommendations from civil society
organizations.
• Two special sessions of the Committee on Juridical and
Political Affairs of the Permanent Council of the OAS on the
topic of access to information in 2006 and 2008 to promote,
impart, and exchange experiences and knowledge with respect
to access to information and the relationship with citizen
participation, and to examine the recommendations on Access
to Public Information contained in the Study on Access to
Information organized by the Department of International
Law, respectively.
• The development of a Model Inter-American Law on Access to
Information and an accompanying Implementation Guide.
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