TheOriginsofOpenness

More than two centuries ago, Sweden passed the first freedom of information law in the world. The law was principally sponsored by Anders Chydenius, a Finnish enlightenment thinker and politician. Chydenius had been inspired by the humanist Confucian philosophyand the fact that the Chinese emperors were expected to admit their own imperfection as a proof for their love of the truth and in fear of ignorance and darkness.

He played a crucial role in creating the Freedom of the Press Act of 1766. It abolished political censorship and provided public with an access to government documents.

He was one of the most notable politicians of eighteenth century Sweden-Finland. According to Chydenius, the path of democracy, equality and a respect for human rights was the only way towards progress and happiness for the whole of society. He believed that Economics exists for the benefit of "the little people" - and not the other way round. The most famous of his articles, which caused a great stir, was 'The National Gain'. Freedom of the press was considered as one of his greatest achievements.1

180 years later, United Nations General Assembly, in its first session in 1946, adopted Resolution 59 (I). It states, Freedom of information is a fundamental human right and . . .the touchstone of all the freedoms to which the UN is consecrated.

Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 recognised Freedom of Expression including Freedom of Information and Free Press - a fundamental human right. Freedom of Expression includes the right to seek, receive and impart information and right to access information held by public authorities.

Article 19 (2) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 1966 states, Everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression; this right shall include freedom to seek,
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Sources:http://www.chydenius.net;http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius;58AdministrativeLaw Review.85(2006)4;ZhiZhen,AdmiringandPraisingaGreatEmperor.

receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.

Article 10 of the U.N. Convention against Corruption of 2005 states: to combat corruption, each (member State) shall, in accordance with the fundamental principles of its domestic law, take such measures as may be necessary to enhance transparency in its public administration.

Ever since the U.N. General Assembly recognized freedom of information as a fundamental human right, many nations started adopting laws assuring right to access information. The United States of America passed the Freedom of Information Act in 1966.The origins of the American Freedom of Information Act come from the activism of newspaper editors and Democratic Congressman John Moss. Moss chaired the special sub committee of public information. A lawyer, Harold Cross, wrote a book entitled "The People's Right to Know". It became the bible of the freedom of information movement

So far over 80 countries have enacted freedom of information laws. This is a steep rise from just 12 countries with such laws in 1990. That means about 70 countries enacted these laws in the past two decades.

CHRONOLOGY OF FREEDOM Sweden Colombia Finland U.S.A Denmark, Norway France Australia, New Zealand Canada

OF INFORMATION LAWS 1766 1888 1951 1966 1970 1978 1982 1983

India won freedom after centuries of struggle as a result of sacrifices made by many heroes. We wrote our Constitution, which, amongst other things, gave us freedom of speech and expression as a fundamental right.

Our Supreme Court, many times, declared that we had freedom of information, which was part of freedom of expression guaranteed by Article19 of the Constitution. Without freedom of information, freedom of expression remains meaningless.

Article 19(1) (a) guarantees us the right to freedom of speech and expression. We shall go through some judgements that support the fact that Supreme Court has consistently recognized this right as implying a full right to information:

In Bennette Coleman v. Union of India, in 1973, our Supreme Court ruled that the right to freedom of speech and expression guaranteed by Art. 19(1) (a) included the right to information.

In State of UP v. Raj Narain, in 1975, Justice Mathew explicitly stated: It is not in the interest of the public to cover with a veil of secrecy the common routine business the responsibility of officials to explain and to justify their acts is the chief safeguard against oppression and corruption.

In Secretary, Ministry of I & B, Government of India v Cricket Association of Bengal, in 1995, the Supreme Court held that the right to impart and receive information from electronic media was included in the freedom of speech.

In S.P. Gupta v. Union of India, in 1982, the right of the people to know about every public act, and the details of every public transaction undertaken by public functionaries was illustrated.

In Peoples Union for Civil Liberties v. Union of India, in 2004, the right to information was further elevated to the status of a human right, necessary for making governance transparent and accountable. It was also emphasized that governance must be participatory.

However, governments have by and large been opaque in terms of making information available in public domain.

In this scenario, a mass-based organisation called the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) took an initiative. It lead the people in a very backward region of Rajasthan - Bhim Tehsil to assert their right to information. They asked for copies of bills and vouchers and names of persons who have been shown in the muster rolls.

MKSS succeeded in getting photocopies of certain relevant documents. MKSS has organized several public hearings (jan sunwai). Peoples anger made one Engineer of the State Electricity Board to return, in public, an amount of Rs.15,000 extracted from a poor farmer. Rajasthan

experience on demanding right to information was echoed in other States. Founder of MKSS, Smt. Aruna Roy, a social activist and Magsaysay award winner, narrates an incident which later became the national slogan:

While addressing a media gathering in the national capital, a media friend asked my companion Sushila, a semi-literate village woman from rural Rajasthan, as to why she needed the Right to Information. She said, "When I send my son to the market with ten rupees, I ask for accounts. The Government spends millions of rupees for the poor. Is liye - Mera paisa, mera hisab My money, My accounts!

A Conference of Chief Ministers of States was held on 24th May, 1997 under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister to discuss an Action Plan for Effective and Responsive Government. The Action Plan dealt with three themes, namely, accountable and citizen-friendly Government, transparency and Right to Information, and improving the performance and integrity of the public services.

The Government of India set up a Working Group on Right to Information and Promotion of open and transparent Government in January 1997.The Working group, under the chairmanship of H. D. Shouri, Chairman, Common Cause, submitted its comprehensive and detailed report and the draft Bill on Freedom of Information in May 1997.

The Press Council of India, the Press Institute of India, the National Campaign for Peoples Right to Information and the Forum for Right to Information unanimously submitted a resolution to the Government of India to amend the proposed Bill in February, 2000.

Meanwhile two states, Tamilnadu and Goa, enacted Right to Information laws in 1997 and inspired other states to follow suit. States which passed Right to Information laws were: Rajasthan, Karnataka Delhi Maharashtra, Assam Madhya Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

The Government of India introduced the Freedom of Information Bill, 2000 in the Lok Sabha on 25th July, 2000. The Bill cast an obligation upon public authorities to furnish such information wherever asked for. It was passed by the Parliament as the Freedom of Information Act 2002. However, the Act could not be brought into force because the date from which the Act should come into force, was not notified in the Official Gazette.

The United Progressive Alliance Government at the Centre, which came into power in 2004, set up a National Advisory Council. It suggested important changes to be incorporated in the Freedom of Information Act. These suggestions were examined by the Government, which decided to make the FOI Act more progressive, participatory and meaningful. Later, the UPA Government decided to repeal the FOI Act and enacted a new legislation, the Right to Information Act 2005. This act provided an effective framework for effectuating the right to information recognised under Article 19 (1)(a) of the Constitution of India. The Parliament enacted the Right to Information Act to facilitate the peoples right to information, in the 56th year of the Republic.

The Right to Information Act 2005 passed by the Parliament of India extends to the whole of India except the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The State of Jammu and Kashmir enacted the Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act, 2009 which came into force on 20 March 2009, repealing the earlier Jammu and Kashmir Right to Information Act, 2004. INTERNATIONAL RIGHT TO KNOW DAY

Around the globe, people in a number of Nations celebrate International Right-to Know Day on September 28 of every year. The Day recognizes and promotes the worldwide proliferation of government openness. The movement was begun by a group of openness-in-government proponents from about three dozen Nations. They joined together in Sofia, Bulgaria in September, 2002 to form a coalition known as the Freedom of Information Advocates Network. They choose to commemorate this event every year in order to symbolize the global movement for promotion of the right to information.

PRINCIPLES ON FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LEGISLATION, ARTICLE 19 ARTICLE 19 is an international organization working for freedom of expression, named after Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It formulated Principles on Freedom of Information Legislation. They were endorsed by the UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, in his report to the 2000 session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights. They were also referred to by the Commission in its 2000 resolution on freedom of expression. The nine Principles in skeleton form are the following::2

PRINCIPLE 1. MAXIMUM DISCLOSURE Freedom of information legislation should be guided by the principle of maximum disclosure PRINCIPLE 2. OBLIGATION TO PUBLISH Public bodies should be under an obligation to publish key Information PRINCIPLE 3. PROMOTION OF OPEN GOVERNMENT Public bodies must actively promote open government PRINCIPLE 4. LIMITED SCOPE OF EXCEPTIONS Exceptions should be clearly and narrowly drawn and subject to strict harm and public interest tests PRINCIPLE 5. PROCESSES TO FACILITATE ACCESS Requests for information should be processed rapidly and fairly and an independent review of any refusals should be available PRINCIPLE 6. COSTS Individuals should not be deterred from making requests for information by excessive costs PRINCIPLE 7. OPEN MEETINGS Meetings of public bodies should be open to the public PRINCIPLE 8. DISCLOSURE TAKES PRECEDENCE Laws which are inconsistent with the principle of maximum disclosure should be amended or repealed PRINCIPLE 9. PROTECTION FOR WHISTLEBLOWERS Individuals who release information on wrongdoing the whistleblowers must be protected.
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ARTICLE19,ThePublic'sRighttoKnow,PrinciplesonFreedomofInformationLegislation.

 You may access the full text of The Public's Right to Know, Principles on Freedom of Information Legislation, at http://www.rtigateway.org.in/otherReferences.do