Report
MEXICO: ARTICLE 19 releases access to information index
30 April 2010
ARTICLE 19 releases access to information index
SOURCE: ARTICLE 19: Global Campaign for Free Expression
(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - 29 April 2010 - In Mexico, the Right to
Information (RTI) is entrenched in the Constitution and there is a
Federal Transparency Law which gives effect to this right. However,
because Mexico is a federal republic, each one of its 32 local state
congresses must approve their own RTI legislation.
The ARTICLE 19 and FUNDAR Index measures the Federal Transparency Law
and 32 local RTI laws against the country's Constitutional mandate and
national legislative development, also establishing a baseline setting
out the minimum criteria to protect RTI.
The Index also evaluates RTI legislation against international
standards and best international practices. It sets international
human rights law and standards for freedom of information as an ideal
benchmark to protect and enhance Access to Information.
"It is absolutely crucial that there is sound legal recognition of the
right to access information, although this is just one of many
challenges in fully realising this right. At the same time, the
exercise of the right to information is one of the best ways to ensure
active participation in the democratic process," comments Darío
Ramírez, Director for ARTICLE 19's Mexico office. "Therefore, this
Access to Information Index for Mexico provides a methodology that we
expect will potentially become a tool that could be used across the
world to enhance access to information."
For its construction, a list of the elements which make up the
normative provisions of each of the transparency and access to
information laws in the country was drawn up. The Index includes a
chart for processing this information which is grouped in several
categories. Therefore, it is an instrument of measurement which allows
comparisons to be made among pieces of legislation, and which
demonstrates, among other things, the level of protection of the right
of access to information nationwide; the degree of individual
development of each piece of legislation and its internal coherence,
its trends and omissions, and which informs about legislative
performance in areas such as the construction of institutional
guarantees, the regulation of procedures or the incorporation of
criteria to regulate the administration of access to public
information.
Measured against the constitutional mandate, 19 of the 32 local
legislations that were analysed failed on the Mexico's Access to
Information Index. The state with the lowest rating is the state of
Guerrero. This is also the state with the lowest human development in
the country and the highest levels of poverty. The lack of guarantees
for the exercise of the Right to Information is a condition that
inhibits the possibility of overcoming these precarious situations.
The Index shows that, even though the Mexican Federal Transparency Law
undoubtedly contributed to the definition of legal guarantees for the
Right to Information in Mexico, it needs to be reformed in order to
efficiently protect and enhance this right. For example, the federal
law fails to incorporate political parties and unions as public
authorities that must comply with the Transparency Law, therefore
inhibiting public scrutiny of national economic resources; it also has
serious deficiencies in the stipulated criteria for classifying
information, which might impede access to public interest information;
also it lacks transparent criteria for the appointment of Information
Commissioners, which eventually might compromise its decision making
independence.
The results also showed that local RTI laws in Mexico are weak,
especially in defining procedures to proactively disclose public
information and establishing sanctions for public officials who
undermine or contravene transparency processes. There are also few
systems in place to effectively appoint transparency commissioners who
would oversee compliance with the access to information laws.
The ARTICLE 19/FUNDAR Index sets out legal benchmarks for the
promotion of progressive legislation that will more effectively
guarantee the realisation of the Right to Information.
--
Urvashi Sharma
Social Worker
contact - 9369613513
@i$#w@ry@!
rti helpline-8081898081
rti helpmail aishwaryaj2010@gmail.com
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