Freedom of Expression
Press Release R135/16
Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression applauds recent enactment of Public Information Access Law in Argentina
September 22, 2016
Washington, D.C. - The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) applauds the enactment of the Public Information Access Law by the Argentine National Congress on September 14. With this new law, Argentina joins the 22 other nations in the hemisphere that have passed laws to ensure the effective exercise of the right to access to public information by their citizens, bringing their domestic laws into line with the inter-American standards on the issue. The Office of the Special Rapporteur congratulates the Stat for this process, pursuant to its mandate to promote freedom of expression and access to public information in the Americas.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur has reiterated on different occasions that "the right of access to information is a critical tool for citizen oversight of the State and public administration." It has also insisted on the need for this right to be understood as "a fundamental requirement for guaranteeing transparency and good public administration by the government and other State authorities," as only full respect for this right will enable it to be a guarantee in "preventing abuses by public officials, holding public administration accountable and promoting its transparency, as well as preventing corruption and authoritarianism."
Accordingly, the Office of the Special Rapporteur is pleased that the legislative bill that was approved took account of the governing principles of maximum disclosure, good faith, and nondiscrimination that must govern public administration in order to guarantee the full exercise of the right of access to information. It also considers relevant the creation of a Public Information Access Agency within the Executive Branch as a specialized body for the guarantee of this right, and the obligation imposed upon other branches of the State to create similar bodies. These legislative decisions are significant developments that position the right of access to information as a preferential tool for the transformation of a culture of secrecy into one of effective accountability.
Finally, the Office of the Special Rapporteur encourages the Argentine government to design and put into practice an effective strategy for the implementation of the law, so that this important step will become, as soon as possible, an effective guarantee of the right of all people in Argentina to access the public information held by the State.
The Office of the Special Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression was created by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to encourage the defense of the right to freedom of thought and expression in the hemisphere, given the fundamental role this right plays in consolidating and developing the democratic system.
R135/16