EUROsociAL+ and the RTA are providing support to the OAS to develop key aspects of the model law on access to information based on good practices and the new challenges being faced by Latin America
The first workshop on the Model Law on Access to Public Information 2.0, organized by the OAS Secretariat for Legal Affairs Department of International Law, with the support of EUROsociAL+, the Chilean Counsel for Transparency and a Transparent Internet and Access to Information (RTA), was held with the participation of some fifty experts from fourteen Latin American countries.
The event, which took place at the Diplomatic Academy in Santiago de Chile, succeeded in bringing together focal points from the Inter-American Programme on Access to Public Information of the Member States, representatives of civil society, the public sector and academia. Its aim was to broaden and strengthen the thematic areas of the Inter-American Model Law on Access to Public Information (the Model Law) to take into account the needs and recent developments in this area.
Taking part in the opening of the event were the European Union Ambassador to Chile, Stella Zervoudaki; the chairman of the Chilean Council for Transparency and chairman of the RTA, Manuel Drago; the Under Secretary-General of the Presidency, Claudio Alvarado; the Chilean under-secretary for foreign relations, Alfonso Silva; and the director of the OAS Department of International Law, Dante Negro.
The results of this first workshop, in addition to materials for the subsequent events and workgroups that will be organized, will permit the DDI to draw up a document to be presented to the Inter-American Legal Committee, an advisory body and the principle of the OAS in legal affairs, and subsequently to the General Assembly for its consideration.
The topics discussed in the workshops were related to the powers and attributes of the bodies that guarantee access to public information; the exceptions scheme; access to public information within the framework of the legal system; document and file management; active transparency; and access to public information in the framework of political parties, trusts, trade unions and other subjects.
Promoting transparency is one of the aims shared by the European Union and Latin America. It is in line with the targets of SDG 16: “develop effective, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels and ensure public access to information, in accordance with international agreements”.
Área de Gobernanza Democrática de EUROsociAL+ / Consejo para la Transparencia de Chile / OEA – EUROsociAL+ Democratic Governance Area / Chilean Counsel for Transparency / OAS
