Public Access To Information
The Government has just published a discussion paper on its proposed freedom of information legislation.
The purpose of this discussion paper is to consult the public on the Government’s proposals for public access to information (PATI) legislation. Also referred to as a green paper or consultation paper, this document presents information that represents the policy direction the Government would like to take following this consultation process. The information in this paper is not the final policy position of the Government.
The public is encouraged to review the document and provide its views on these proposals.
The consultation period for this discussion paper will be open for the next three months and responses should be sent via letter mail, e-mail, telephone, or fax no later than Friday October 21st, 2005 to:The PATI Team
The Central Policy Unit
Cabinet Office
105 Front Street
Hamilton, Bermuda
HM 12
Tel: 298-7168 or 298-1092
Fax: 296-0555
Email: pati@gov.bm
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Why am I sceptical about this?
On the face of it, I should be welcoming of this new "right", and yet one cannot help but think this is a paper tiger. A little like having an Ombudsman...who cannot consider complaints against MP's.
It lacks teeth!
Given that Alex stated in his early days of office that he would release certain reports for public consumption...and he has not...maybe that has something to do with how I feel.
And, if my memory serves me right, similar UK legislation some years ago made me feel no better either.
Posted by Martin on 22.07.05 at 23:47
My immediate reation is that they are dragging their feet. It has taken them several years to get this far. The paper says it will take 12-18 months from October to present actual legislation. And if I recall, many countries give several years window before these laws have teeth, in order to allow the governments to clean up their information handling (so they can actually find stuff!!)
Posted by Tiger Bay on 23.07.05 at 09:40
Step one in improving public access to information is to put verbatim transcripts of Parliament on the internet! (Those MPs are ..so.. tired that they are taking a break until Nov 4!)
Notice that most of the areas of contention in recent years are exempted from PATI: decision making advice (BIC), negotiations (Coca Reef), audits (scandals ad nauseum), economic management (our spiralling debt).
The data protection laws and the official secrets act are wild cards .. they are also being updated. It's hard to pass PATI without knowing their content, as they can override the contents of the PATI law.
Looks like another substantial branch of govt bureaucracy.
From the limited posting so far on this topic, it is sad how little attention is being shown for this important law. We all cry coverup .. this is a chance to make things more transparent. Read it and submit your comments!
Posted by Fourth Estate on 25.07.05 at 11:19
Needs to address both electronic and paper information. For electronic records, need to highlight where information has been redacted. The exemptions are very vague - they allow a lot of jigglewiggle room for Government to exclude data.
Posted by Tiger Bay on 25.07.05 at 16:59
PATI is another case of Alex Scott social agenda smoke and mirrors.
This discussion paper is very vague. Show us draft legislation - not a paper with loosely described exemptions through which you could potentially drive every PLP scandal of the last seven years!
In any case, it does him no harm to talk it up. The paper says it could take another 18 months to pass legislation, and another 5 to make it binding. In other words, we might have a more transparent government by April 2012.
The little man has balls.
Posted by Tiger Bay on 26.07.05 at 16:28
The time keeps a-tickin and we still ain't got no PATI.
International Anti-corruption Day - Time for Caribbean governments to seize the initiative
Saturday, December 9, 2006
by Indra Jeet Mistry, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative
Last year, the United Nations Convention against Corruption became the first legally binding, global anti-corruption agreement, marking an historic milestone in the fight against corruption. One year on, with 9 December being celebrated as International Anti-corruption day, in the Caribbean, only Trinidad and Tobago and Antigua and Barbuda can count themselves as signatories to the Convention.
This is despite the fact that corruption remains rife across the region and has had the debilitating effect of eating into the economic prosperity, democratic development and civil society’s trust in government. Endemic corruption in the Caribbean was recently reflected in Transparency International’s latest Corruption Perceptions Index. Of the Caribbean countries surveyed, Jamaica was viewed as the least corrupt but was placed at only 66, while Guyana’s performance was especially poor, coming in at 121 out of a potential 163.
The Convention for the first time provides a single, overarching means for all countries in the region to fight and remove the scourge of corruption that has for long hampered their development. More specifically, chapter two of the Convention provides different measures that a country should implement to help stop the rot of corruption and remove the fog of secrecy that often clouds government operations and decision-making processes.
One means by which Caribbean countries can go a long way to battling corruption is by adopting and implementing an effective right to information law, which would also underpin many of the other measures set out in the Convention. Indeed, there have been some positive signs that Caribbean countries are beginning to understand the benefits of adopting an RTI law with Jamaica recently celebrated two years of implementing its Access to Information Act, while Antigua and Barbuda and Trinidad and Tobago also operate their own laws. Freedom of information (FOI) Bills are in the process of being drafted in Guyana and the Cayman Islands, while Bermuda has also announced its willingness to implement a law.
The right to information, or freedom of information as it is more commonly known, has long been recognised as a foundational human right, ever since the UN General Assembly declared in 1946 that “freedom of information is a fundamental human right and a touchstone of all freedoms to which the United Nations is consecrated.” Since then, the Organisation of American States and the Commonwealth - of which many Caribbean states are members - have also endorsed minimum standards on the right to information. More countries in the region now need to recognise this fundamental right and also realise the benefits that implementing such a law can bring, particularly in regard to cracking down on corruption.
An effective right to information law puts an obligation on the government to regularly disclose as much information as possible about its policies and decisions to the public, and provide information to individuals on request. Disclosing information should be subject to an overriding principle that all information should be disclosed, unless the harm caused by disclosure is greater than the public interest in accessing the information. The information should be accessible in a user-friendly, cheap, quick and simple way and the government should be required to conduct ongoing training for government officials and educate the public on the right to information.
The right to information acts as an important tool in fighting corruption because it can effectively transform the strong and traditional culture of secrecy within government into one of transparency and openness. In the Caribbean, politicians and government officials have for too long taken advantage of this culture of secrecy, where the local media often reports on the numerous ways in which officials have lined their own pockets with public funds. The adoption of a right to information law can shed light on the behaviour of government officials by empowering citizens with a tool to help scrutinise and monitor government decision-making and bring public officials and politicians to account.
Empowering citizens in this manner can also help strengthen democracy by making government directly accountable to its citizens on a day-to-day basis rather than just at election time. Even at election time, a right to information law ensures that voters have better access to information concerning the government’s record in office, allowing them to make a more informed decision at the ballot box, instead of relying on often dubious political propaganda.
An effective right to information law also helps to ensure that governments formulate and implement development projects in a responsible, transparent and participatory manner. Development projects often significantly suffer as a result of funds being siphoned off, resulting in severe delay, and sometimes even a failure to complete projects. With a right to information law in place, governments would be obliged to share information on such projects with the public who can then monitor their development. In fact, the right to information would give the public a voice in determining what local projects should take place in the first place and how these can be designed to more effectively improve their lives.
In sum, if governments in the Caribbean are serious about cracking down on corruption and securing the long term democratic development and economic prosperity for their citizens, now is the time for them to seize the initiative and sign up to the Convention and prioritise the drawing up and implementation of an effective right to information law.
Posted by Tiger Bay on 11.12.06 at 14:51
Tiger Bay - thanks for posting that. As was pointed out by Grant Gibbons, Bermuda was not represented at this event. Ouch.
"while Bermuda has also announced its willingness to implement a law."
If I were a betting man I would give 100/1 odds this will not be implemented prior to Doc Brown calling a new election. (And just so there's no spinning - implementation means on the books and the books open.)
Posted by SmokingGun on 11.12.06 at 18:26
17 months have now passed since Government released the PATI (public access to information) white paper. At that time, they predicted that draft legislation would have been introduced within 12-18 months.
The goal of PATI is to increase transparency into Government's operations; after all, the data belongs to the public NOT a cabal of politicians or civil service elite.
Rather than complete the promised PATI initiative, Government is shovelling money into projects that increase its ability to "shape" information that is presented to the public, such as the TV station ... or bypassing normal oversight through ministerial orders.
Not a peep about PATI in a long time. What is going on with this important project?
Posted by Tiger Bay on 25.01.07 at 09:09
Funny that Bermuda did not attend a meeting last month on freedom information laws in the Caribbean sponsored by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (of which Jennifer Smith is vice-chairman, listed as a journalist by occupation) with the Carter Center, the Organization of American States, and the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative.
In addition to government representatives, journalists and human rights groups from across the region attended. It's a pity no-one from Bermuda did.
Attendees included Guyana, Jamaica, Anguilla, Barbados, Belize, Antigua & Barbuda, Turks and Caicos, Montserrat, Trinidad and Tobago, Cayman Islands, St. Kitts & Nevis, Grenada, Saint Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
The resolutions from that meeting (PDF) consitute good advice for Bermuda.
http://www.cpahq.org/CPACIDAWorkshoponFOIconclusions_pdf_media_public.aspx
Posted by Roly Poly on 25.01.07 at 10:38