As
part of the activities carried out at the
international level every September 28 to
celebrate World Access to Information Day, the
Department of International Law (DIL)
participated in three important events.
In the first place, Dr. Dante Negro, Director of
the DIL participated in the Course on Public
Integrity organized by the OAS School of
Government in the session entitled "Access to
Public Information and Open Data." Dr. Negro
referred to the importance of the right of
access to public information in a democratic
society, highlighting the principle of maximum
publicity and the central role of active
transparency in the context of the regional
standards contained in the Inter-American Model
Law 2.0 on Access to Public Information approved
by the General Assembly in 2020.
The Director of the DIL also pointed out the
importance of having a statutory exceptions
regime which is as restrictive as possible and
lists in detail the causes for withholding
information from public knowledge.
Second, Dr. Jaime Moreno-Valle, Senior Legal
Officer of the DIL participated in the forum
“Access to Public Information in the Open
Justice Framework”, organized by the Justice and
Transparency Project of the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID), and the
National Commission for the Improvement of the
Administration of Justice of Costa Rica
(CONAMAJ). This academic event was opened by
Magister Alejandro Sánchez Garrido, Coordinator
of the Open Justice and Transparency Component
of USAID’s Justice and Transparency Project, and
Magistrate Fernando Cruz Castro, Chair of the
Costa Rican Judicial Branch.
Dr. Moreno-Valle referred to the standards set
by the Model Law 2.0 on Access to Public
Information in terms of active transparency,
integration and authority of the guarantor body,
information classification and document
management, highlighting that said Model Law
incorporates a gender perspective from its
design, and seeks to meet the needs of groups in
vulnerable situations to easily access the
information that interests them.
Finally, on September 30 the DIL participated in
the opening session of the Training Program:
Access to Information and Sustainable
Development organized by Honduras’ Institute of
Access to Public Information and the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Scientific
Organization (UNESCO), which will take place
weekly during October and November.
At this event, Dr. Moreno-Valle presented the
innovations contained in the Model Law 2.0 with
respect to its predecessor and referred to the
way in which the right of access to information,
as stated in said Model Law, can be exercised
across the 17 Sustainable Development Goals
proposed by the United Nations 2030 Agenda.
» To access the Model Inter-American Law 2.0 on Access to Public Information,
click here.
»
To visit the DIL website on access to
information,
click here.
