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Access to Information - Democratic Right and Good
Governance
The document Recommendations on Access to Information
(CP/CAJP-2599/08) discusses on its section IV access to
information as a democratic right necessary for good
governance of the state.
This concept of access to information as a political right
in the democratic system stems from the Inter-American
Democratic Charter (approved on September 11, 2001, in Lima,
Peru), which takes into account the American Declaration on
the Rights and Duties of Man and the American Convention on
Human Rights. Article 4 of the Charter recognizes that
transparency in government activities, probity, responsible
public administration on the part of governments, respect
for social rights, and freedom of expression and of the
press are essential components of the exercise of democracy.
The Democratic Charter also indicates in Article 6 that
citizen participation and transparency in government
activities are basic principles of democracy.
The right to access is an essential aspect of both
provisions because in a system where people lack access to
information, they do not have the information they need to
inform their political decisions. By contrast, in a system
that protects this right, people have the information
required to participate and effectively exercise their
political rights guaranteed in any representative democracy.
Therefore, informed decisions based on due access to
information are an indispensable requisite for the effective
exercise of political rights and hence a requisite for the
functioning of democracy and for improving a country’s
governance. In this regard, the right to access to
information is a primary and autonomous right, and a tool
for political construction based on people’s right to elect
their leaders, and the consequent right to know how they are
carrying out their mandate.
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