Newsletter -February 2011

Model Law on Access to Public Information

The Department of International Law, in co-sponsorship with the Federal Institute of Access to Public Information (IFAI) of Mexico, the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Institute for Legal Research at UNAM, the Mexican Conference on Access to Public Information (COMAIP), the Institute of Access to Public Information of the Federal District (INFODF), the Centers for Economics Teaching and Research (CIDE), the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the National Security Archive of the George Washington University, are currently organizing an international seminar on the Model Inter-American Law on Access to Public Information, its application at the regional level, and in Mexico specifically.

The seminar will be held March 10-11, 2011, at the Héctor Fix Zamudio Auditorium of the UNAM Institute for Legal Research and will feature a regional discussion of the importance of the Model Inter-American Law and its implementation guide, as well as its integration with legislative processes at the national and local levels in the countries of Latin America. The seminar is also expected to generate academic and professional debate on the status of current Mexican Law on access to information vis-à-vis the standards and requirement of the OAS Model Law. Additionally, the seminar will include debate among the participants concerning the protection of personally data and privacy and the regulatory needs of the region on this topic.

The seminar will also explore the origin and content of the Model Law and its implementation guide, the constitutional and legislative incorporation of the Model Law into Latin American legal systems, and the legislative metrics available for the evaluation of the Model Law. Moreover, the seminar will provide the first opportunity to analyze both federal and state legislation on access to public information in Mexico in view of the text of standards set forth in the Model Law and its implementation guide. Finally, it will serve as a forum to discuss the protection of personally date information both in Mexico and the wider region, and will include the participation of senior officials of the OAS, the IFAI, the UNAM, the CIDE, the OAS member states, the federal and state governments of Mexico, as well as representatives of civil society organizations.

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