Strengthen the Legislative Framework Governing Access to Information (JO0048)

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Status quo or problem addressed by the commitment: The National Human Rights Plan clearly emphasized the importance of amending and enacting the Access to Information Law. The plan recognizes that the current legal framework (issued in 2007) suffers from certain imbalances while the operational plan of the National Integrity System contains a commitment to review the legislation related to the protection of the right to access information. In addition, the Jordanian Government accepted a number of the Human Rights Universal Periodic Review recommendations in 2013 which stipulated the importance of revising the regulatory environment governing the right to access information. The enforcement of the law suffers from a general lack of associated procedures to the law. Furthermore, the current law is not the only legal tool that deals with access to information issues. As a result, there are technical and administrative difficulties related to the management of information across various public sector institutions. Main objective: Harmonize national legislation and policies concerning the right to access information with international standards and best practices. Brief description of commitment: Review the legislative system, identify existing problems in the practices and management of information systems and propose a bundle of legislative and procedural amendments. OGP challenge addressed by the commitment: Strengthen the overall credibility of government’s performance and increase access to information in the context of encouraging a climate of public freedom. Relevance: This commitment is directly related to the principle of access to information. It enables citizens to have access to public information that affect their lives and have the right to access. It is the cornerstone for establishing the basis of accountability and public participation in general. Ambition: The Jordanian Government aims to establish a set of stable policies in the area of access to information based on international best practices and standards. The government also aims to better manage how information is made available in the public sector, allowing citizens to access information of concern to them with little or no administrative or bureaucratic obstacles or legislative barriers.