Equitable Access to Public Information - July
2013
Panama high-level workshop on equal access to
public information ends
The High-Level Workshop on Equal Access to Public
Information, organized by the OAS Department of
International Law (DIL) and the Panamanian
government's National Authority for Transparency and
Access to Information, ended on a successful note on
June 27.
The event brought together various levels of public
officials engaged with access to information and the
public sector as well as national and international
experts and representatives from academia and civil
society. They examined the existing legal framework
in this field, using as reference the principles and
rules of the Inter-American Model Law on Access to
Public Information (Model
Law), adopted by the OAS General Assembly in
June 2010.
Last April, Panama passed
Law 33 establishing the
National Authority for
Transparency and Access to
Information, which replaces
the National Council for
Transparency against
Corruption. Its language
followed some of the
guidelines of the OAS Model
Law. Among other provisions,
this Law creates the
National Authority and
assigns it the function of
monitoring respect for the
rights enshrined in the
Constitution, regarding the
constitutional right to
petition and access to
information, as well as
rights provided for under
international conventions,
agreements, treaties, and
national and international
programs on incorporating
and implementing prevention
policies in the public
sector.
Director General of the National Authority for
Transparency, Abigail Benzadón, inaugurated the
event, along with Ambassador of Canada to Panama
Sylvia Cesaratto and the Director of the Department
of International Law, Dante Negro.
The High-Level Workshop brought together government
officials of the former National Council for
Transparency, the Attorney General's Office, the
Supreme Court of Justice, the National Environment
Authority, the Administrative Tribunal for Public
Procurement, and the Authority for Government
Innovation, and from such other agencies as the
Panamanian Association of Business Executives, Mar
Viva Foundation, the Inter-American University of
Panama, and the Association of Journalists.
Also taking part were international experts from
Mexico's Federal Institute of Access to Information
and Protection of Personal Data, the Regional
Alliance for Freedom of Expression and Information,
and the National Autonomous University of Mexico.
The workshop program
combined panel discussions
and working sessions on the
main thematic areas of the
Model Law, including the
principle of maximum
disclosure, measures to
promote openness,
publication schemes,
production records and
policies, public documents
storage and safety, forms of
access to information, cost,
the exceptions and appeals
system, the functions of
information commissions,
monitoring and enforcement
of existing regulations, and
the importance of training
programs for officials
responsible for handling
requests for access to
public information.
The workshop concluded with
recommendations, including
on information commissions,
procedures and mechanisms
for information
classification and
maintenance, the system of
exceptions and penalties,
and training programs for
both the public sector and
the citizenry, especially in
light of the recent adoption
of Law 33, its relevance,
and the importance of
getting citizens to embrace
its scope and content.
The event was held as part
of the DDI's project on
Equal Access to Public
Information, sponsored
by the Canadian
International
Development Agency.
Similar workshops have
been held in Mexico,
Dominican Republic, and
Peru, with forthcoming
ones to be held in Costa
Rica and Colombia.
The Workshop presentations,
the proceedings,
conclusions, and information
on the Project for
Cooperation on Equal Access
to Public Information are
available on the following
website (*only Spanish):
http://www.oas.org/es/sla/ddi/acceso_informacion_talleres_seminarios_actividades.asp.
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