ISLAMABAD, Feb 1: The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and World Bank Institute (WBI) have emphasised the need for parliaments and their members in the Commonwealth countries, including Pakistan, “to become champions of access to information and to lead by example of their own openness”.

The CPA-WBI Study Group on Access to Information has produced a set of recommendations as a result of its meeting held in Accra, Ghana, on July 5-9, 2004 for the promotion of best and innovative practices in access to information in Commonwealth.

“Freedom of information is a fundamental human right, crucial in its own right and also as a cornerstone of democracy, participation and good governance. Recognition of this key right is essential to empowering all members of society, including parliamentarians, to strengthening parliamentary democracy, to reversing practices of government by the few and to improving the relationship between parliament and the media”, observes the group in its recommendations.

The group notes international standards for access to information in Commonwealth, including Article 19 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa, the Inter-American Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression, Recommendation (2002) of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe to Member States on Access to Official Documents, the recommendations of the UN Special Repertoire on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, the Freedom of Information Standards developed by the Commonwealth, and the Article 19 publication, The Public’s Right to Know: Principles on Freedom of Information Legislation.

It demands that Commonwealth parliaments should pass as a priority effective access to information legislation, in accordance with these recommendations, giving everyone a right to access information held by public authorities.

Public bodies, it demands, should be required by law to publish and disseminate widely a range of key information in a manner that is easily accessible to the public. Over time, the amount of information subject to such disclosure should be increased.

The group has recommended that no one should have to state reasons for their request for information. Public bodies should be required to respond to requests within set time periods. A failure to respond to a request within that time period should be deemed a refusal of the request.

Any refusal to provide information should be accompanied by the reasons for that refusal, including which provision in the legislation is being relied upon, as well as information detailing any right of appeal the requester may have, the group demands.

“Requesters should have the right to appeal any refusal to provide information to an independent administrative body. A final appeal should also lie to the courts”, the group stresses.

Wilful obstruction of the right of access, it says, including by destroying or damaging information, should be a criminal offence.

Costs for access to information should not be so high as to deter requesters. When putting in place statutory fee systems, consideration should be given to the following: requesters only have to pay for the cost of reproducing the information; requests for certain types of information such as personal information are free or very low cost; requesters cannot be subject to higher charges simply because public officials do not maintain their records in a sufficiently accessible format.

If the information is not provided within a set time period after the fee has been paid, the money will be returned and the request will be free of charge.

No public body should be completely excluded from the ambit of the legislation rather exceptions should be applied on a case-by-case basis in light of specific information requests, the group observes. Where there is a conflict between the access to information law and any other legislation, the access to information law should prevail.

Individuals who disclose information pursuant to the access to information law should be protected against sanction and victimization, including for defamation.

Individuals who in good faith release information that discloses evidence of wrongdoing should be protected by law against sanction.