Right to information

Access to information gives you the right by law to access facts and data concerning the exercise of any public authority, as well as on the use of any public funds. It often occurs through Right to Information laws (ROI). With Right to Information laws, you will be legally allowed to obtain any and all information and documents from the government or other relevant organisations.

Right to information is not only a human right, but an essential tool that empowers you to demand accountability from governments, participate in public life and to fight corruption through knowledge. Right to information provides essential facts that benefit your life in a number of ways from human rights to environmental justice.

For example, when human rights violations or major corruption cases occur, you can find out more about the wrongdoings, trigger investigations and eventually prosecute the corrupt because of information gained with the help of ROI. If you want to measure your governments’ CO2 emissions and track its progress toward climate goals, you can do so because of ROI.

In general, it is more difficult to hide abuses of power and other illegal activities when citizens like you can access key facts and data from governments.

Right now, around 120 countries have Right to Information Acts, but the acts vary in strength.

Many existing Right to Information laws do not meet international standards, and are not properly implemented and publicized. Even strong laws can be ineffective if the officials providing information are undertrained, too few or supporting a culture of secrecy.

Governments and parliaments should draft and pass Right to Information laws that comply with international standards. Governments, civil society and journalists should proactively inform people about access to information laws and encourage their use.

While laws are incredibly important in improving people’s access to information in countries around the world, they’re only part of a bigger picture of right to information.

Our national chapters frequently train public officials, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and journalists about how to use ROI to access documents and information.

Whether assisting with requesting information, reacting to a refusal by authorities to appeal refusals in court, our Advocacy and Legal Advise Centres in about 60 countries help ensure you are armed with the information you need to better understand your government’s actions and make a difference in tackling corruption.

Most of our 100+ national chapters monitor national ROI laws and how well they are function. As part of our monitoring work, we prepare reports on ROI like the one on 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region or following the Arab Spring in the Middle East and North Africa region.

When governments do not respect right to information and fail to reply to information requests, our Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres advise and occasionally litigate on behalf of citizens, journalists, organisations. Our ALACs also pursue their own investigations that can lead to holding wrongdoers accountable and remedies for victims.

Each law is only as good as the extent to which people use it, therefore we raise awareness of citizens of their right of access to information.