OGP: Is the right to information being taken seriously?
The OGP has quickly become the leading global movement for promoting government openness. So it might seem odd to ask whether something as central to openness as the right to informationThe legal right to request information from the government allows the public to follow government decision-making, participate in ensuring better decisions, and hold the government accountable. Techni... (RTI or freedom of information) is being taken seriously within the OGP. Unfortunately, early indications suggest that the question is all too relevant.
RTI was built into the very design of OGP: having an RTI law is one of four eligibility criteria for membership. But this commitmentOGP commitments are promises for reform co-created by governments and civil society and submitted as part of an action plan. Commitments typically include a description of the problem, concrete action... was already seriously flawed because States could obtain three of four points simply by having a constitutional guarantee. Experience demonstrates that a constitutional guarantee without implementing legislationCreating and passing legislation is one of the most effective ways of ensuring open government reforms have long-lasting effects on government practices. Technical specifications: Act of creating or r... is hardly worth the paper it is written on. Rumour has it that this excessively generous allocation for a mere constitutional guarantee was designed to ensure that certain countries would meet the eligibility criteria.
Two of the eight States on the original OGP Steering Committee did not have RTI laws. One, Brazil, quickly remedied the situation. But another, the Philippines still does not have an RTI law although it has been on the casino on line Steering CommitteeThe Steering Committee is OGP’s executive decision-making body. Its role is to develop, promote and safeguard OGP’s values, principles and interests; establish OGP’s core ideas, policies, and ru... for nearly a year. When Tanzania joined the Steering Committee in April, the number of ‘RTI delinquents’ again rose to two. Can a country really claim to be showing “leadership by example”, a condition of being on the Steering Committee, if it persistently refuses to adopt an RTI law? What does it say about the Steering Committee if it accepts this situation?
A recent report by the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) suggests that a lack of commitment to RTI reform is widespread within the OGP. Of 44 countries that had produced Action Plans, only 13, or 30%, had made a serious commitment to RTI reform. If one removes countries which do not have an RTI law (on the basis that they really have to adopt one, although Paraguay did not even make this minimal commitment), the number drops to just 21%. In contrast, almost every country has made open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... promises, often of a technical nature, arguably a much easier commitment.
The numbers remain depressingly low when assessed against the quality of the legal framework for RTI, as measured by the CLD-Access Info Europe RTI Rating. 12 OGP States have laws which fall below the half-way standard in the RTI Rating, indicating a real need for law reform. Of these only four, or 33%, have made a serious commitment to RTI reform.
The OGP will soon lose credibility if countries get away with only making soft promises to improve openness. Indonesian NGOs have already criticised their government’s plans under the title “OGP is Not an Adornment”. The CLD report calls on the OGP to develop minimum standards for States in the three substantive areas covered by the Declaration of Principles; transparencyAccording to OGP’s Articles of Governance, transparency occurs when “government-held information (including on activities and decisions) is open, comprehensive, timely, freely available to the pub... More, accountability and participation.
Unless the OGP does something to promote minimum standards, its very credibility is at risk.