Access to Public Records

WHEREAS the right of access to public records is not fully guaranteed in any Latin American country, despite the fact that it is a fundamental protection in the majority of their constitutions WHEREAS governments have a duty to guarantee the right of free access to public records as a condition of governability in a democracy, in order to ensure administrative transparency in the conduct of public affairs and the full exercise of citizens' right to know WHEREAS many governments try to justify the denial of access to records in their possession on such grounds as national security, public order and security at home or abroad, as an obstacle to administrative transparency and the free flow of news WHEREAS Principle 3 of the Declaration of Chapultepec establishes that "[t]he authorities must be compelled by law to make available in a timely and reasonable manner the information generated by the public sector; [n]o journalist may be forced to reveal his or her sources of information" WHEREAS President Jorge Quiroga of Bolivia recently informed the IAPA at the national forum held in Bolivia on the Declaration of Chapultepec that his government was committed to a constitutional amendment that would guarantee access to public records and Nicaraguan President Enrique Bolaños committed himself to sponsoring a specific law of access to information WHEREAS Panama's Legislative Assembly enacted a law on free access to public records in January 2002 as a first step toward strengthening the right of access to public records in that country THE MIDYEAR MEETING OF THE IAPA RESOLVES to call upon governments to fulfill their duty to guarantee the right of free access to public records by making all information generated by the public sector available to all citizens in a full, timely and effective manner to urge governments not to utilize legal loopholes to conceal information that citizens have the right to know to call upon national authorities to guarantee the right of access to public records by taking appropriate administrative action and enacting legislation to secure this right.