freedominfo.org
Update, May 20, 2004

Ecuador Enacts 'Transparency and Access to Information Law'

http://www.freedominfo.org/news/ecuador/20040520.htm

On May 18, 2004, Ecuador formally published the new "Transparency and Access to Information Law" in the government's official record, after passage by Parliament earlier in the month and approval by President Lucio Gutierrez. For freedominfo.org, Carlos Osorio and Kati Costar provide the first English-language analysis of the new law, together with the Spanish-language legal text.

According to the Osorio and Costar report:

With refreshing democratic language, the new Ecuadorian Transparency and Access to Information Law establishes that "[a]ccess to information is a right of the person guaranteed by the State" and requires that government agencies proactively publish functional, operational and financial information. At the same time, a number of inconsistencies within the text, such as allowing the Armed Forces to restrict the right to information, could prove to be obstacles in Ecuador's push for transparency.

http://www.freedominfo.org/news/ecuador/20040520.htm

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