The right of Access to Public Information: An Analysis of International Conventions

Résumé

[extract] The right of access to public information is one of the cornerstones of freedom of expression, or the “free communication of ideas and opinions”, which is regarded as “one of humankind’s most valuable possessions” under the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen of August 26, 1789, itself the inspiration for international texts. The right of access to public information is also fundamental to the right to transparency, which is one of the key components of democracy and an open government. This process has accelerated since Barack Obama’s Memorandum of 2009, but its underpinnings existed in earlier texts.