Access to Information Law (JO0063)

Institutionalization of the enforcement measures
for Access to Information Law Lead implementing agency
Commitment Description
1 / 9 / 2018 - 30 / 6 / 2020
Department of the National Library, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology,
and the Integrity and Anti - Corruption Commission (the fourth milestone of the commitment) What is the public
problem that the
commitment will
address?
This commitment was made to address the current situation of the enforcement of the
Access to Information law, issued in 2007. Government institutions lack a clear and
uniform system for the classification and management of information. The process of
acquiring information by journalists and other stakeholders is characterized with difficulty
and excessive bureaucracy, making the information useless when finally acquired. There
are significant deficiencies in the procedural framework of requesting information,
processing requests and providing information, resulting sets of information with poor
quality. Despite the existence of the law and some of the instructions issued thereunder,
the main problem remains as application and compliance, due to either technical reasons
or to the awareness by governmental officials on the importance of access to information.
What is the commitment?
This commitment seeks to strengthen the enforcement of the Access to Information law,
through participatory efforts by relevant state and non-state actors. It also aims to build
a unified system for the classification and management of governmental information,
while considering the differences between governmental institutions. Furthermore, the
commitment pursues a goal of compliance with the classification of information by the
competent agency.
How will the commitment
contribute to solve the
public problem?
A unified system for the classification and management of information, that takes account
of the differences between governmental institutions, will contribute to facilitating the
process of obtaining and benefiting from information in a timely manner. It will also
contribute to increasing the awareness of governmental officials on the importance of
access to information and shall encourage them to comply and promote a culture of
informational openness. Why is this commitment
relevant to OGP values?
This commitment is based on the notion of making access to information an integral
right for citizens, one of OGP’s major valu e s. The commitment also relates to Public
Accountability, as a result of better acces s to information.
The commitment is consistent with the value of Civic Participation as well, since it requires
participatory actions gathering state and non-state actors throughout its implementation.
Additional information
This commitment is linked to the E-Government Program at the Ministry of information
and Communications Technology. The fourth milestone of this commitment is linked to
the National Strategy for Integrity and the Combating Corruption 20172025- (Project 23)
and the National Human Rights Strategy 20162030-.
The commitment is in line with SDG 16, particularly sub-goal 16.10 to “ensure public
access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national
legislation and international agreements”.
This commitment comes as a continuation of the work on Commitment 1 of Jordan’s third
NAP under OGP 20162018-, and has been designed based on progress evaluation.
Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable
Start
implementation
Date
End
implementation
Date
Forming a team of experts from relevant government agencies, nongovernmental
organizations and institutions concerned with human rights (civil
society, journalists, local and international experts, legal specialists, academics,
NCHR), to work jointly within the following scope:
A. Setting a vision for an institutional protocol to enforce access to information,
with best practices, especially those related to receiving and handling information
requests, and the classification, management and archiving of governmental
information. This entails clear procedures and standards to facilitate acquiring
and retrieving information in a speedy manner, and the provision of a “fasttrack
approach” for journalists. The protocol will be unified and will consider the
differences between governmental institutions, in order to fill the gaps in current
application status, and to promote voluntary pre-disclosure of information to
serve public interests.
B. Developing tools to measure the quality of information granted to applicants,
in addition to pre-disclosed information published voluntarily.
C. Reviewing existing government regulations and instructions concerning the
enforcement of the Access to Information law, and comparing them with the
protocols and guidelines recommended by the Expert Group (milestones 1, 2
and 3) to prevent any duplication or conflict.
1 / 9 / 2018 30 / 9 / 2019 ssuing the protocols / instructions and circulating them to all relevant ministries
and governmental institutions, and disseminating them on various governmental
digital platforms and social media accounts.
1 / 10 / 2019 30 / 12 / 2019
Developing and implementing an awareness plan on the importance of
information classification and pre-disclosure, through direct tools (meetings
and awareness sessions), and indirect tools (publishing through governmental
platforms, media, social media and billboards in government institutions). This
plan is aimed at senior positions in governmental bodies and officials responsible
for disseminating information and receiving requests for information (electronic
and direct), in addition to reception staff, in order to enhance the understanding
and application of approved procedures.
1 / 1 / 2020 30 / 6 / 2020
Monitoring the compliance of public administration institutions with
the classification of information by conducting an evaluation of relevant
governmental institutions, issuing a report, then circulating and publishing it, as
a prelude to an annual evaluation process that seeks to promote the practices
and culture of access to information.
1 / 1 / 2020 30 / 6 / 2020
Contact Information
Name of responsible person from implementing agency
Nada Khater
Ena'am Mutawe
Elham AlZu'bi
Email and Phone
Nada.khater@moict.gov.jo
+962798510405
enaam.mutawe@nl.gov.jo
+962795916917
Elham.zoubi@jiacc.gov.jo
+962770452866
Other Actors Involved
(CSOs and Experts)
Name of the CSOs and
experts who applied for the
voluntary assistance to the
implementation of the 4th
NAP. Open call of interest
was launched during 2 -17
/ 12 / 2018.
- Friends of the Jordanian Parliament Association
- Gateway Development Association for Studies, Research and Training
- Family Awareness and Guidance Center
- Community Media Network
- Academy of Change for Democracy and Development Studies
- Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists
- Arab World Center for Democratic Development
- TAMKEEN Initiative
- National Center for Human Rights
- Jordan Association for Entrepreneurship
- Al-Hayat Center - Rased
- Jordanian Association Of Transparency

Commitment 5. Access to Information Law Enforcement Measures

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“This commitment seeks to strengthen the enforcement of the Access to Information law, through participatory efforts by relevant state and non-state actors. It also aims to build a unified system for the classification and management of governmental information, while considering the differences between governmental institutions. Furthermore, the commitment pursues a goal of compliance with the classification of information by the competent agency.”

Milestones:

1. "Forming a team of experts from relevant government agencies, non- governmental organizations and institutions concerned with human rights (civil society, journalists, local and international experts, legal specialists, academics, NCHR), to work jointly within the following scope:
2. Setting a vision for an institutional protocol to enforce access to information, with best practices, especially those related to receiving and handling information requests, and the classification, management and archiving of governmental information. This entails clear procedures and standards to facilitate acquiring and retrieving information in a speedy manner, and the provision of a “fast- track approach” for journalists. The protocol will be unified and will consider the differences between governmental institutions, in order to fill the gaps in current application status, and to promote voluntary pre-disclosure of information to serve public interests.
3. Developing tools to measure the quality of information granted to applicants, in addition to pre-disclosed information published voluntarily.
4. Reviewing existing government regulations and instructions concerning the enforcement of the Access to Information law, and comparing them with the protocols and guidelines recommended by the Expert Group (milestones 1, 2 and 3) to prevent any duplication or conflict.
5. Issuing the protocols / instructions and circulating them to all relevant ministries and governmental institutions, and disseminating them on various governmental digital platforms and social media accounts.
6. Developing and implementing an awareness plan on the importance of information classification and pre-disclosure, through direct tools (meetings and awareness sessions), and indirect tools (publishing through governmental platforms, media, social media and billboards in government institutions). This plan is aimed at senior positions in governmental bodies and officials responsible for disseminating information and receiving requests for information (electronic and direct), in addition to reception staff, in order to enhance the understanding and application of approved procedures.
7. Monitoring the compliance of public administration institutions with the classification of information by conducting an evaluation of relevant governmental institutions, issuing a report, then circulating and publishing it, as a prelude to an annual evaluation process that seeks to promote the practices and culture of access to information."

Start Date: 1 / 9 / 2018

End Date: 30 / 6 / 2020

Editorial Note: the commitment description provided above is an abridged version of the commitment text, please see the full action plan here.

Context and Objectives

Jordan passed the Access to Information Law (Act No. 47) in 2007. Observers agree that the law constituted a significant achievement, as it was the first of its kind in the Arab world. [29] However, it has faced implementation challenges. The law lacked explicit provisions encouraging government institutions to proactively disclose information. They do so only upon request. [30] The law did not foresee a mechanism to classify and determine which government documents fell under the jurisdiction of the law and those that were exempt. [31] According to the Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists, the level of awareness of civil servants on the provisions and mechanisms of the law still is low. [32]

This commitment is a continuation of Commitment 1 in the third national action plan. That commitment focused on strengthening the legislative framework related to access to information. [33] Since May 2019, the Legislation and Opinion Bureau has been revising a comprehensive draft and amendments to the Access to Information Law. [34]

The commitment aims to help enforcement of the Access to Information Law. It seeks to strengthen the mechanisms for classifying and managing government information across agencies. It involves review of circulations governing the Access to Information Law and the monitoring of the compliance of government agencies’ provisions regulating the classification of information.

This commitment is verifiable. It contains specific milestones and intended outcomes regarding protocols containing clear guidance for agencies, training of civil servants, and an assessment on compliance. The commitment is relevant to the OGP value of access to information. It intends to improve the current framework governing the classification of information subject to the Access to Information Law. Such work is expected to improve the management of information requests. The commitment is also relevant to the OGP value of civic participation. Members of civil society would be given the opportunity to participate in a government-created forum to inform decision making, in this case, on a protocol to classify public documentation across government agencies.

If implemented as written, the commitment would contribute to enforcing implementation of the Access to Information Law. It would improve institutional standards on information classification and disclosure. It would also involve awareness-raising activities and review of legislative framework. The commitment, as designed, addresses the lack of procedures for information classification and seeks to reduce inconsistency among multiple legislation governing access to information. However, while the compliance reports are to be published, there is no mention of potential consequences for agencies or officials who fail to comply with the legal requirements to release information. Thus, the potential impact for this commitment is moderate.

Next Steps

This commitment holds a lot of potential, and efforts to advance its implementation should be sustained beyond this action plan. The following considerations are recommended for future commitments designed to strengthen the access to information framework:

• Clarify and consolidate the role of the entity responsible for evaluating compliance across government agencies and for publishing the report. The responsible entity remains unclear from the current commitment’s design.
• Place significant emphasis on training for government officials, to make sure they clearly understand the law’s requirements and have the necessary tools for its implementation.
• Consider including explicit penalties for civil servants who fail to comply with the provisions of the Access to Information Law. Accountability or oversight mechanisms could be the focus of future iterations of this commitment.
• Ensure that all measures are taken to guarantee consistency among the Access to Information Law and other relevant regulations, especially the Law for Protection of State Secrets.

Commitment 5. Access to Information Law Enforcement Measures

Substantial:

In December 2020, the Prime Minister approved three protocols on access to information and circulated them to relevant ministries and government institutions. [34] These protocols clarified procedures for providing access to information, identifying classified and non-classified information, and archiving and managing information. [35] They were prepared by committees of government and civil society experts, including Jordan Transparency Center, the National Center for Human Rights, and the Center for Defending the Freedom of Journalists (CDFJ). [36] In addition, CDFJ led an awareness campaign on access to information from September 2019 through October 2020. Following the end of the implementation period, progress was underway to begin monitoring government institutions’ compliance. [37] Overall, this commitment’s stated policy objective was to increase government compliance with the Access to Information Law. The co-creation of protocols is an important initial step towards clarifying access to information processes. [38] However, IRM research found that the protocols have not resulted in much change to government practices, as they are voluntary [39] and many agencies are instead waiting for the Access to Information Law to be amended. [40] Moreover, milestones implemented under this commitment failed to address significant obstacles to citizen access to government-held information. These include digitization of the information request process, training for government officials, and enforcement of the new protocols. [41] Despite substantial completion of the milestones, many public institutions continue to deny access to information, according to CDFJ and Transparency International Jordan. [42] As of October 2021, a poll of 3,290 Jordanians found that only 8.1% consider the government transparent in its provision of information to the public, [43] indicating a need for strengthened efforts in this area. Moving forward, the IRM recommends partnering with civil society to strategically identify activities that address the foremost obstacles to public access to information. The IRM also recommends investigating enforcement measures to ensure compliance with access to information legislation.