Project: Promotion of the Model Law

What is access to information?

Information and Governability

Access to information has the unquestionable effect of strengthening accountability of, and trust in, government institutions. It fosters greater efficiency and integrity in the management of public resources and is essential for making the State more transparent in its operations, more effective in its actions, more responsible in respecting and promoting individual rights, and more responsive to public needs and demands.

Access to information is a vital tool in the fight against corruption–one of the most powerful threats to every country’s economic and social development–by effectively implementing public oversight of all government acts, making corruption more difficult, thus promoting greater accountability, and making it possible to reveal abuses, errors, and weaknesses in the public sector.

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights has stated that “the State’s actions should be governed by the principles of disclosure and transparency in public administration that enable all persons subject to its jurisdiction to exercise the democratic control of those actions, and so that they can question, investigate and consider whether public functions are being performed adequately.”