This is an ongoing survey of the state of freedom of information in countries which have adopted comprehensive national laws on access.This version was originally released in September 2003 and amended in April-May 2004 to include four additional countries.This report,third in the series to an updated global survey, shows that more than 50 countries by now have guaranteed their citizens the right to know what their governments are doing, and more than half of these freedom of information laws have been passed in the last decade.
The report includes links to the texts of laws and commentary on their effectiveness or lack of it.On India,the report,among other things,observes:
"Many of the states in India have enacted Right to Information Acts since 1997 due to pressure from activists fighting corruption. These include Goa, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, New Delhi and Rajasthan. Uttar Pradesh has adopted a Code of Practice on Access to Information. The Maharashtra Government's Right to Information Act was adopted (replacing a 2002 Ordinance)in August 2003 after activist Anna Hazare went on a hunger strike."(p-40).
The report covers the following 57 countries(over 30 more countries have pending efforts):
1.ALBANIA,2.ARMENIA,3.AUSTRALIA,4.AUSTRIA,5.BELGIUM,6.BELIZE,
7.BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA,8.BULGARIA,9.CANADA,10.COLOMBIA,
11.CROATIA,12.CZECH REPUBLIC,13.DENMARK,14.ESTONIA,15.FINLAND,
16.FRANCE,17.GEORGIA,18.GREECE,19.HUNGARY,20.ICELAND,
21.INDIA,22.IRELAND,23.ISRAEL,24.ITALY,25.JAMAICA,26.JAPAN,
27.SOUTH KOREA,28.KOSOVO,29.LATVIA,30.LIECHTENSTEIN,
31.LITHUANIA,32.MEXICO,33.MOLDOVA,34.NETHERLANDS,35.NEW ZEALAND,36.NORWAY,37.PAKISTAN,38.PANAMA,39.PERU,40.PHILIPPINES,
41.POLAND,42.PORTUGAL,43.ROMANIA,44.SLOVAKIA,45.SLOVENIA,
46.SOUTH AFRICA,47.SPAIN,48.SWEDEN,49.TAJIKISTAN,50.THAILAND,
51.TURKEY,52.TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO,53.UKRAINE,54.UNITED KINGDOM,
55.UNITED STATES,56.UZBEKISTAN and 57.ZIMBABWE.
The report has been compiled and edited by David Banisar,a Visiting Fellow, Department of Law,University of Leeds and Director of the Freedom of Information Project of Privacy International(http://www.privacyinternational.org)(a human rights group formed in 1990 and based in London)for freedominfo.org.He was earlier
a Fellow at the Kennedy School of Government,Harvard University and a Co-founder and Policy Director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center.
The report is recommended for consultation by any one interested in the current national status of freedom of information or securing access to information from government,an area increasingly becoming important due to activism by individuals and organisations to which the information and communication technologies(ICTs)
have significantly contributed(see,for example,Norris(2004)briefly reviewed in this Forum).The sponsors and the editor of the report need to be congratulated for this undertaking which can make significant contribution to good governance.
Dr D.C.Misra
October 22,2004
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* The Freedominfo.org Global Report:Freedom of Information and
Access to Government Records Around the World(updated May 12, 2004),
Available:http://www.freedominfo.org/survey/global_survey2004.pdf
(1.8 MB)(accessed October 22,2004).
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(Source:http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/cyberquiz/message/89)
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