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Academic freedom
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2020
- Document code
- A/75/261
Document
Access to information in international organizations
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Legal status
- Non-negotiated soft law
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Year
- 2017
- Document code
- A/72/350
Document
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 1
- Paragraph text
- The workings of international organizations, including the United Nations, are deeply opaque to most people. Apart from the work of their highest profile bodies, what they do and how they do it is largely hidden from public view. In such an environment, how does information of legitimate interest to the public get disclosed? How does the general public, including citizens, students, journalists, scholars, activists, parliamentarians and even representatives of Member States, keep track of how the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations operate and how international civil servants comply with their obligations? What policies, if any, direct international officials to share information? What standards do international officials rely upon when deciding whether to withhold information? In general, how do intergovernmental organizations ensure their own compliance with the human rights norm guaranteeing everyone the right to seek and receive information of all kinds, especially information held by public authorities?
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 2
- Paragraph text
- In his 2016 report detailing the refusal of the United Nations to acknowledge responsibility for the tragic outbreak of cholera in Haiti, the Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights noted the following: “It has been suggested to the Special Rapporteur by several sources that the legal advice originally submitted to the Secretary-General took a rather different approach to these crucial issues [the responsibility of the United Nations for the cholera outbreak] from that which was finally adopted, but this cannot be confirmed since none of the analyses of the Office of Legal Affairs have been made public. If true, however, it might explain why the arguments adduced in order to abdicate responsibility are both peremptory and inadequately justified (A/71/367, para. 33).”
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Poverty
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 3
- Paragraph text
- There have been similar information-poor situations involving peacekeeping, whistle-blowing, allegations of fraud, personnel decisions and conflicts of interest for which a comprehensive freedom of information policy for the United Nations would have advanced public understanding of and engagement with global issues and reinforced mechanisms for accountability. A lack of transparency and proper access to information, for instance, has arguably played a role in the lack of accountability on the part of peacekeepers accused of sexual abuse.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Humanitarian
- Violence
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 4
- Paragraph text
- There is evidently no formal process according to which a member of the public, let alone a special rapporteur, may seek such information from the United Nations. As a result, even if an intergovernmental organization has a good case for non-disclosure in a particular situation, that argument is not tested (see ST/SGB/2007/6). To address this point one must ask how are institutional decisions and analyses, and decision makers, to be put to the test when such information is so difficult to obtain? Instead of a formal process that would enable the submission of requests for information, public knowledge of the policies and actions of the United Nations and of other intergovernmental organizations is limited to only what those bodies choose to publish, while external evaluation typically depends on the efforts of journalists or researchers who develop access within such organizations. Within the United Nations, and most intergovernmental organizations, there appears to be no obligation on the part of any official source to provide reasons for refusing to disclose information.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 5
- Paragraph text
- The present report, which explores freedom of information policies in the context of international organizations, placing specific but not exclusive focus on the United Nations system, is the result of a year’s worth of research and investigation, including a call for submissions that generated responses from 16 international organizations and 5 non-governmental actors. Access to information under human rights law, noting the expansion of freedom of information policies adopted by Governments worldwide, is discussed in section II below. The elements necessary for an effective freedom of information policy at the international level are presented in section III, and a series of recommendations for intergovernmental organizations, Member States and non-State participants in international governance are presented in section IV.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 6
- Paragraph text
- Where rule of law prevails, Governments and Government officials stay accountable to their citizens through a variety of mechanisms. Too often, however, accountability is a chimera, and nowhere is this more evident than in situations where authorities withhold information from the public. Without freedom to access information of all kinds — in particular when Governments withhold information from the public and its judicial, legislative and media mechanisms — abuses may take place, policies affecting the general welfare may not be tested and improved and overall public engagement and participation diminishes, often by design. By contrast, information-rich environments help promote good decision-making and meaningful public debate, building credibility for public institutions. Even if implementation may not always meet the highest standards, Governments have recognized this fundamental point, at the intersection of good, open government and the human right of access to information, recognizing that the credibility of public authorities depends on their willingness to engage with those who fund their work and elect their key officials — the members of the public.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 7
- Paragraph text
- These general points about access to information are hardly controversial today in discussions of governmental power and policy. A majority of Governments around the world have adopted freedom of information laws, with varying degrees of robustness and levels of implementation. But the movement for open government has largely bypassed global institutions — not totally, but so significantly that “access to information” carries very little currency within the centres of international governance. Ask an international official about access to information and one is more likely to hear about websites and archive policy (extremely important information, but not exactly to the point) than the public’s ability to gain access to the contemporary workings or failings of or debates within intergovernmental organizations or institutions. This is not to begrudge the work done by intergovernmental organizations during the decades of the digital revolution to open up their workings to the public. Whereas researchers and journalists once had to carry out their work at physical libraries serving as repositories for the documentation of the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations, vast amounts of material may now be found on websites, including recently adopted material, which can sometimes be traced within days (and sometimes hours) of adoption. Public information officers should be congratulated for their willingness to ensure the widespread accessibility of official documents. Similarly, there are examples of organizations and agencies opening up files on their spending and contracting to public scrutiny, although with varying degrees of success.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 8
- Paragraph text
- And yet, despite the fact that intergovernmental organizations make much of the public work of their institutions available online, including legal instruments, resolutions, decisions of committees and monitoring bodies, field work and webcasts of public meetings, few organizations have access-to-information policies that enable the public, either on an individual basis or through the work of journalists and researchers, to make requests for information not otherwise disclosed. Organizations that do include such policies, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the World Bank, the World Food Programme (WFP), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and a handful of others — mostly international financial institutions and funds — are discussed in section III below. Even if they entertain such requests, most organizations make little or no effort to publicize their willingness or to highlight the standards by which decisions to disclose information are made.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 9
- Paragraph text
- Before assessing what elements might constitute an appropriate freedom of information policy for intergovernmental organizations, it is worth examining the norms that apply under human rights law, for it is evident that the policies that underlie the law apply with equal force both to intergovernmental organizations and to States.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 10
- Paragraph text
- The right to information under international law has its roots in article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. As formulated in the International Covenant, everyone enjoys the “freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice”. The Human Rights Committee has provided a clear enunciation of what the right involves, emphasizing that article 19 “embraces a right of access to information held by public bodies”. “Such information”, the Committee noted, “includes records held by a public body, regardless of the form in which the information is stored, its source and the date of production” (CCPR/C/GC/34, para. 18). Moreover, the Committee emphasized that the right does not merely depend on public authorities’ reaction to requests for information: “To give effect to the right of access to information, States parties should proactively put in the public domain Government information of public interest. States parties should make every effort to ensure easy, prompt, effective and practical access to such information. States parties should also enact the necessary procedures, whereby one may gain access to information, such as by means of freedom of information legislation. The procedures should provide for the timely processing of requests for information according to clear rules that are compatible with the Covenant. Fees for requests for information should not be such as to constitute an unreasonable impediment to access to information. Authorities should provide reasons for any refusal to provide access to information. Arrangements should be put in place for appeals from refusals to provide access to information as well as in cases of failure to respond to requests (CCPR/C/GC/34, para. 19).”
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 11
- Paragraph text
- From the early days of the mandate’s work, Special Rapporteurs have elaborated on the right to information. In only the second report of the mandate, the Special Rapporteur highlighted the “vitally important” roles served by the right to information (E/CN.4/1995/32, para. 135), and the 1998 report emphasized that “the right to access to information held by the Government must be the rule rather than the exception”. The 1998 report also noted a specific right to information about “State security” and, in a notable statement, raised concerns about government prosecution of civil servants who disclose “information which has been classified”, adding that Governments “continue to classify far more information than could be considered necessary”. By this the Special Rapporteur meant that Governments should only withhold material in which “serious harm to the State’s interest is unavoidable if the information is made public and that this harm outweighs the harm to the rights of opinion, expression and information”. He concluded, “The tendency to classify or withhold information on the basis of, for example, ‘Cabinet confidentiality’ is too often the practice, which adversely affects access to information” (E/CN.4/1998/40, paras. 12 and 13).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 12
- Paragraph text
- In the years since, elaboration of the right to information has been a common thread in reporting under the mandate. In 2013, the Special Rapporteur gave a full rationale for a robust right to information: “… public authorities act as representatives of the public, fulfilling a public good; therefore, in principle, their decisions and actions should be transparent. A culture of secrecy is acceptable only in very exceptional cases, when confidentiality may be essential for the effectiveness of their work. There is consequently a strong public interest in the disclosure of some types of information. Moreover, access to certain types of information can affect the enjoyment by individuals of other rights. In such cases, information can be withheld only in very exceptional circumstances, if at all (A/68/362, para. 20).”
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 13
- Paragraph text
- In 2004, the Special Rapporteur joined with representatives of regional mechanisms for freedom of expression to emphasize the importance of freedom of information as a fundamental right. Together they emphasized that addressing the widespread “culture of secrecy” in public institutions required not only legislation and implementation but also “sanctions for those who wilfully obstruct access to information”.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 14
- Paragraph text
- In parallel with the work of the Human Rights Committee and its special procedures mechanisms, the Human Rights Council and the General Assembly also articulated the importance of freedom of information. As recently as 2016, the Council called upon all States to ensure disclosure of information held by public authorities and “to adopt transparent, clear and expedient laws and policies that provide for the effective disclosure of information held by public authorities and a general right to request and receive information, for which public access should be granted, except within narrow, proportionate, necessary and clearly defined limitations”. Access to information has become a standard element of other human rights treaties (A/70/361, para. 6), and has been widely adopted in international agreements pertaining to development, the environment, food and agriculture and corruption, among other substantive areas. The Aarhus Convention provides an example of international agreement that access to information, public participation in decision-making and access to justice in environmental matters, an area of major public interest, “contribute[s] to the protection of the right of every person of present and future generations to live in an environment adequate to his or her health and well-being”. Similarly, in recognition of the essential role played by the right to freedom of information, Sustainable Development Goal 16 links access to information to good governance, human rights and accountability and calls on all Member States to adopt and implement public access to information laws and policies (resolution 70/1, paras. 16.6-16.10).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Environment
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 15
- Paragraph text
- During the period of normative expansion in the establishment and work of human rights bodies, States were also adopting legislation to implement the right to information, while many incorporated a right to information as a matter of constitutional law. At the domestic level, States have increasingly opened up the workings of government as a matter of law, if not always achieving the best implementation practices. Nevertheless, the environment of confidentiality and withholding that tends to prevail within bureaucracies and in political leadership around the world remains difficult to eliminate. A prevailing exclusion of national security information from right-to-information legal frameworks encourages a tendency to look at disclosures, even those of the highest public interest without meaningful harm to governmental interests, as contrary to “the national interest”. Such attitudes put significant negative pressure on access-to-information laws, and they may have a spill-over effect beyond traditional national security environments. In short, while the legal framework for access to information has improved globally, open government still faces significant barriers in terms of overcoming attitudes and instilling implementation practices.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 16
- Paragraph text
- Human rights law also recognizes connections between the right to freedom of expression as contained in article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and other rights. The right to information is also closely connected to article 25 (1) of the International Covenant, which protects every citizen’s right and opportunity to “take part in the conduct of public affairs”. The Human Rights Committee has emphasized the importance of freedom of information to public participation “without censorship” (CCPR/C/21/Rev.1/Add.7, para. 25). The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reiterated and expanded on this point (and others) in its 2015 report on the promotion, protection and implementation of the right to participate in public affairs in the context of the existing human rights law (A/HRC/30/26).
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 17
- Paragraph text
- Recognition of the right to information, consistent with article 19 of the International Covenant, has come with the acknowledgment that access to information may be subject to limitations. Those limitations, originating in article 19 (3), must be provided by law and be necessary and proportionate in order to protect the rights or reputations of others, national security or public order or public health or morals. I have previously reviewed how the restrictions permissible under article 19 (3) apply in the context of freedom of information (A/70/361, paras. 8-13). How international organizations might translate the norms of the International Covenant for the purposes of their own access-to-information initiatives is discussed below.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 18
- Paragraph text
- A subject of discussion among academics and lawyers for many years, it is often argued that human rights law, including article 19 of the International Covenant and the other instruments identified herein, does not strictly apply to intergovernmental organizations, certainly not in the same way that human rights law binds States. Yet, looking at the issue purely from the perspective of organizational obligations and immunities, a legalistic approach to the human rights obligations of intergovernmental organizations misses the most salient points, both in law and in policy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 19
- Paragraph text
- Transparency within intergovernmental organizations advances the same objectives that underlie the expansion of freedom of information and open government initiatives. As noted in the submission of the Centre for Law and Democracy, such organizations are public institutions, performing governmental functions, much as States do. Members of the public can only seriously engage with the critical issues pursued by intergovernmental organizations when they have access to information about them. In the context of multilateral institutions, the Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of association and peaceful assembly noted that for “civil society to engage effectively in global decision-making, the right to access information is indispensable” (A/69/365, para. 15). In countries where intergovernmental organizations do extensive work, whether it involves peacekeeping or development assistance or human rights, to name a few areas, genuine engagement and participation means the ability to gain current information about the work of such missions. It means having mechanisms of public accountability so that individuals can determine whether the organizations are serving their interests or those of the organization itself, including, possibly, corporations, local leaders or corrupt participants in public life.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 20
- Paragraph text
- The media coverage of intergovernmental organizations is also radically different from the day-to-day or hour-to-hour reporting in domestic environments. Considering the size of the international bureaucracy, in comparison to the coverage in robust media environments of national or local governance, very few reporters cover the United Nations or other intergovernmental organizations on a dedicated basis. Those who do cover them must often work hard to get their editors, and certainly their readers, to understand the relevance of these institutions to their own lives and public policy preferences. As a result, members of the international civil service do not find themselves under the journalistic microscope in the same way that domestic bureaucrats do (or should) around the world. Such oversight may be pursued by Member States from time to time, particularly in areas of budgeting, but the difficulty of accessing information about the workings of intergovernmental organizations exacerbates the already difficult situation in terms of the pursuit of accountability at the international level. In this kind of atmosphere, every newspaper or magazine article that uncovers a problematic practice on the part of an intergovernmental organization may be taken as an attack on the institution as a whole, largely because the work of these institutions is so removed from the lives of members of the public. Fixing that, and adopting robust access-to-information policies, is one step towards better understanding, accountability, oversight and protection of the missions of intergovernmental organizations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Economic Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 21
- Paragraph text
- There is no principled reason why intergovernmental organizations should adopt access-to-information policies that vary from those adopted by States. While notions of “national security” and “public order” may not generally apply to intergovernmental organization for purposes of restrictions on access to information, each institution needs to identify how the restrictions applicable under human rights law apply in their particular context. Some argue that, because of their nature, intergovernmental organizations need to withhold information generated or provided by Member States. But that would overreach, providing a potentially major loophole that could interfere with the development of policies that advance the public’s right to know.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 22
- Paragraph text
- It bears re-emphasizing that article 19 of the International Covenant guarantees everyone the right to seek and receive information of all kinds, regardless of frontiers. At a minimum, States are obligated not to stand in the way of members of the public receiving information from organizations like the United Nations and its departments and agencies, absent a demonstration of the legitimate application of the limitations found in article 19 (3) of the Covenant. One can go a step further and highlight the broad consensus that States are obligated not only to avoid illegitimate restrictions on access to information but that they should create enabling environments for all rights under article 19 of the Covenant. While intergovernmental organizations clearly enjoy an independent personality under international law, their main policies and legal norms are often the result of the decisions of their Member States. As such, States should encourage the creation of environments that include access to information not merely because of some legalistic approach to intergovernmental organizations and the responsibility of the United Nations but because their citizens — all citizens, everywhere — should enjoy the right to information of all kinds regardless of frontiers, including information about intergovernmental organizations and the United Nations.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Equality & Inclusion
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 23
- Paragraph text
- Sixteen institutions made submissions for the compilation of the present report, which I supplemented with interviews and consultations. Despite extensive outreach, dozens of intergovernmental organizations and agencies within the United Nations system did not respond to the mandate’s call for submission. I was particularly disappointed not to receive a submission from the Secretariat of the United Nations Headquarters in New York. While organizations that did not make any submission may have some kind of access-to-information policy in place, 10 organizations that made submissions have formal access-to-information, disclosure or transparency policies; two are currently drafting policies; one does not have a formal access-to-information policy but provides access through an array of its policies; and three do not have any information access policies. Based on research, it appears that most international organizations lack binding policies to protect and promote the right of access to information. Put another way, based on my research, with a few notable exceptions, intergovernmental organizations have failed to create mechanisms that can penetrate their opacity and enable easy access to their operations. Most egregiously, the United Nations does not have an access-to-information policy that applies to every department and specialized agency; it does not even have ad hoc standards for response to access-to-information requests.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- All
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 24
- Paragraph text
- Dynamic and flexible access to information policies are feasible, as demonstrated by the policies adopted by several organizations. Finance, environment and development institutions tend to have active approaches to information, responsive to the demands of governmental and non-governmental stakeholders that their work be transparent and open to genuine scrutiny.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 25
- Paragraph text
- The World Bank, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have active institutional websites, training guides and designated access-to-information departments that oversee annual reporting and information disclosure. In its submission, the Center for Law and Democracy stated that the prevalence of access-to-information policies in the international finance sector “is largely due to heightened civil society scrutiny of their work, given its high impact, and also partly due to the fact that Member States are keen to ensure that their money is being handled appropriately”. There is also focused attention on the part of civil society, to such an extent that the Global Transparency Initiative, an informal network of civil society organizations promoting openness at financial institutions, has created a charter elaborating the standards upon which the access-to-information policies of international financial institutions should be based. This rights-based approach to establishing an access-to-information policy includes a presumption of disclosure, generous automatic disclosure rules, a clear framework for processing requests for information, limited (though still often overbroad) exceptions and a right to appeal refusals to disclose information to an independent body. Many financial institutions have access-to-information policies that embody a significant number of the elements of the charter advanced by the Global Transparency Initiative. For example, the World Bank’s policy includes guiding principles upholding maximum access to information, a list of exceptions, a set of procedures describing how information is made available and a two-stage appeals mechanism. Under the appeals mechanism, the requester enjoys recourse to an appeals board, consisting of external and independent outside experts. Its disclosure policy includes a declassification system timeline and a set of definitions. The World Bank has also instituted an “access to information committee”, which is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the policy.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 26
- Paragraph text
- Access information policy at UNEP is focused on a policy of maximum disclosure and openness. Its policy defines the type of information it can disclose, which is any information relating to UNEP and in its possession, and includes established exceptions, consistent with relevant rules and practices of the United Nations, for example, how to handle sensitive information and classification. UNEP has a specific information request mechanism that includes information on how to frame a request, and to whom. Furthermore, it specifies that if there is an exception of concern, the officer handling the request shall seek guidance from a senior legal officer. UNEP has a timeline for handling requests, indicating that receipt of a request must be acknowledged within 5 days, a response within 30 days, and a response to an information appeal within 60 days. The policy contains a fee structure, under which most information is released free of charge, except for printing costs. It requires a reason for the denial of a request for information and establishes an appeals mechanism, made up of a panel of two members of UNEP and one outside representative. In addition, the policy includes a public interest override test according to which UNEP will release information if the benefits of disclosure outweigh potential harm.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 27
- Paragraph text
- One of the earliest access-to-information policies was established by UNDP, which operates on a presumption in favour of disclosure. It defines what type of information it discloses and where the policy applies. A notable feature of this policy is that it provides a link to publicly available information to help requesters determine what type of information they might need to request. Like many intergovernmental organizations, UNDP has a list of exceptions to disclosure. Like UNEP, it has a harm test and a public interest override, under which an independent Information Disclosure Oversight Panel determines whether certain types of information should be disclosed because such disclosure would serve a public benefit. UNDP has specific request times: 30 calendar days for information requests; and 30 calendar days for appeals. It includes not only an annex of information that describes exceptions and the information normally made available to the public but it also a flowchart as a visual aid to describe the information-request process.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Civil & Political Rights
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph
Access to information in international organizations 2017, para. 28
- Paragraph text
- After reviewing domestic access to information policies and existing policies adopted by these and other institutions, as well as consulting with stakeholders and examining the related work of the previous Special Rapporteur, I have identified practices that intergovernmental organizations should include as part of their access to information policies.
- Body
- Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
- Document type
- Special Procedures' report
- Topic(s)
- Governance & Rule of Law
- Person(s) affected
- N.A.
- Year
- 2017
Paragraph