Right to Information : Case Studies on Implementation

This first round of eight case studies was completed in 2012. The case studies were prepared examining the experience of a number of countries that have passed Right to Information (RTI) legislation within the last 15 years: Albania, India, Mexico,...

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Main Author: Trapnell, Stephanie E.
Format: Working Paper
Language:English
en_US
Published: World Bank, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/08/24869623/right-information-case-studies-implementation
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22527
id okr-10986-22527
recordtype oai_dc
spelling okr-10986-225272021-04-23T14:04:09Z Right to Information : Case Studies on Implementation Trapnell, Stephanie E. Trapnell, Stephanie E. RIGHT TO INFORMATION RTI RTI LAW INTERNATIONAL RTI CASE STUDIES This first round of eight case studies was completed in 2012. The case studies were prepared examining the experience of a number of countries that have passed Right to Information (RTI) legislation within the last 15 years: Albania, India, Mexico, Moldova, Peru, Romania, Uganda, and the United Kingdom. Each country case study assesses four dimensions critical to the effective implementation of RTI legislation as follows: 1. The scope of the information that the law covers, which determines whether an RTI law can serve as the instrument of more transparent and accountable governance as envisaged by its advocates. For example, a law that leaves too many categories of information out of its purview, that does not adequately apply to all agencies impacting public welfare or using public resources, or that potentially contradicts with other regulations, like secrecy laws, will not be effective. 2. Issues related to public sector capacity and incentives, additional key functions and demands within the public sector created by RTI, entities responsible for these functions, and various organizational models for fulfilling these functions. 3. Mechanisms for appeals and effective enforcement against the denial of information(whether it be an independent commission or the judiciary); the relative independence, capacity, and scope of powers of the appeals agency, and the ease of the appeals process; and the application of sanctions in the face of unwarranted or mute refusals, providing a credible environment. 4. The capacity of civil society and media groups to apply the law to promote transparency and to monitor the application of the law, and a regulatory and political environment that enables these groups to operate effectively. The in-depth research presented in these case studies was conducted to examine factors that promote the relative effectiveness of these four key dimensions when implementing RTI reforms, including institutional norms, political realities, and economic concerns. An analysis was conducted to determine which models have the potential to work in different contexts and what lessons can be drawn from these experiences to help countries currently in the process of setting up RTI regimes. 2015-08-20T15:18:22Z 2015-08-20T15:18:22Z 2014 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/08/24869623/right-information-case-studies-implementation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22527 English en_US Right to information working paper series; CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Working Paper
repository_type Digital Repository
institution_category Foreign Institution
institution Digital Repositories
building World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection World Bank
language English
en_US
topic RIGHT TO INFORMATION
RTI
RTI LAW
INTERNATIONAL RTI CASE STUDIES
spellingShingle RIGHT TO INFORMATION
RTI
RTI LAW
INTERNATIONAL RTI CASE STUDIES
Trapnell, Stephanie E.
Right to Information : Case Studies on Implementation
relation Right to information working paper series;
description This first round of eight case studies was completed in 2012. The case studies were prepared examining the experience of a number of countries that have passed Right to Information (RTI) legislation within the last 15 years: Albania, India, Mexico, Moldova, Peru, Romania, Uganda, and the United Kingdom. Each country case study assesses four dimensions critical to the effective implementation of RTI legislation as follows: 1. The scope of the information that the law covers, which determines whether an RTI law can serve as the instrument of more transparent and accountable governance as envisaged by its advocates. For example, a law that leaves too many categories of information out of its purview, that does not adequately apply to all agencies impacting public welfare or using public resources, or that potentially contradicts with other regulations, like secrecy laws, will not be effective. 2. Issues related to public sector capacity and incentives, additional key functions and demands within the public sector created by RTI, entities responsible for these functions, and various organizational models for fulfilling these functions. 3. Mechanisms for appeals and effective enforcement against the denial of information(whether it be an independent commission or the judiciary); the relative independence, capacity, and scope of powers of the appeals agency, and the ease of the appeals process; and the application of sanctions in the face of unwarranted or mute refusals, providing a credible environment. 4. The capacity of civil society and media groups to apply the law to promote transparency and to monitor the application of the law, and a regulatory and political environment that enables these groups to operate effectively. The in-depth research presented in these case studies was conducted to examine factors that promote the relative effectiveness of these four key dimensions when implementing RTI reforms, including institutional norms, political realities, and economic concerns. An analysis was conducted to determine which models have the potential to work in different contexts and what lessons can be drawn from these experiences to help countries currently in the process of setting up RTI regimes.
author2 Trapnell, Stephanie E.
author_facet Trapnell, Stephanie E.
Trapnell, Stephanie E.
format Working Paper
author Trapnell, Stephanie E.
author_sort Trapnell, Stephanie E.
title Right to Information : Case Studies on Implementation
title_short Right to Information : Case Studies on Implementation
title_full Right to Information : Case Studies on Implementation
title_fullStr Right to Information : Case Studies on Implementation
title_full_unstemmed Right to Information : Case Studies on Implementation
title_sort right to information : case studies on implementation
publisher World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate 2015
url http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/08/24869623/right-information-case-studies-implementation
http://hdl.handle.net/10986/22527
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