Freedom of Information

The United Nations does not have a system-wide public information disclosure policy based on sound freedom of information principles such as maximum disclosure and a positive obligation to disseminate the information it holds.

What Human Rights and Environmental Principles Promoted by the UN Are at Stake:

Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 19

ICCPR, Article 19

UN General Assembly Resolution 59(1), 1946

UNDP Public Information Disclosure Policy

Other international documents promoting freedom of information such as the 1992 Rio Declaration, the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration and the 1998 Aahrus Convention on access to information in environmental matters.

What Needs to Be Done:

The UN has an obligation to avoid refraining people from getting the information it collects but also a positive obligation to promote and facilitate the dissemination of such information in the widest possible way. It should adopt and promote a system-wide, written public information disclosure policy based on the following freedom of information principles:

• maximum disclosure: all information should be actively made available to the public in an accessible format except in very limited circumstances;
• measures restricting full disclosure should be written, based in law, have a legitimate aim - that is, be in the public's best interest - and be proportional to the public good they claim to protect;
• an independent appeals mechanism should be available to challenge such restrictions.

Who Can Do It:

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan
UN Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of the Right to Freedom of Opinion and Expression
Under-Secretary-General for Communications and Public Information, Department of Public Information
Individual agency/organization heads

If You Want to Know More:

"Information is the oxygen of democracy," rightly proclaims UK-based NGO Article 19. The UN has a duty to adopt a proactive freedom of information policy based on a broad right to access information. This includes not only a negative duty to avoid refraining people from getting the information it collects but also a positive duty to promote and facilitate the dissemination of such information in the widest possible way.

As a rule, all information should be available in a readily accessible format unless it is restricted. Restrictive measures cannot be arbitrary. Rather, they must be based in law, be legitimate in their aim - that is, in the public's best interest - and be proportional to the public good the claim to protect. Finally, there has to be a clearly outlined administrative or judicial procedure which allows individuals to challenge specific restrictions.

Several NGOs, including Article 19 in the UK, have done extensive work in promoting freedom of information regimes. In addition, the issue of the public's right to be informed has been a critical component of recent environmental and human development policy. According to UNDP, the importance of information disclosure to the public as a prerequisite for sustainable human development has been recognized in major United Nations intergovernmental statements.

Articles 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and of the 1966 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights state that "everyone shall have the right to…seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds." A number of additional conventions and declaration have focused on the right of the public to be informed, including the 1992 Rio Declaration, the 1995 Copenhagen Declaration and the 1998 Aarhus Convention.

The Aahrus Convention, or Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, has been signed by thirty-five States and the European Community. It takes a comprehensive approach to the issue of access to information by obligating states parties to collect and publicly disseminate information, as well as respond to specific requests.

Each party must ensure that public authorities, upon request, provide environmental information to a requesting person without the latter having to state an interest. The states parties must also provide information about information, i.e. the type and scope of information held by public authorities, the basic terms and conditions under which it is made available and the procedure by which it could be obtained.

In 1997, UNDP adopted a Public Information Disclosure Policy that takes into account some of the above-listed principles. Unfortunately, it is an exception within the UN system as most other UN organs and agencies do not have published freedom of information policies in place. According to UK-NGO Article 19, it also "fails in serious ways to meet the standards found in many national laws."

The UN has an obligation to avoid refraining people from getting the information it collects but also a positive obligation to promote and facilitate the dissemination of such information in the widest possible way. It should adopt and promote a system-wide, written public information disclosure policy based on the following freedom of information principles:

• maximum disclosure: all information should be actively made available to the public in an accessible format except in very limited circumstances;
• measures restricting full disclosure should be written, based in law, have a legitimate aim - that is, be in the public's best interest - and be proportional to the public good they claim to protect;
• an independent appeals mechanism should be available to challenge such restrictions.