The second part of this report focuses on the right to access in four countries of the MENA region: Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, and Tunisia. Chapter 6 discusses the development of this right in light of the political situation in these countries, and the new constitutional base for the right to information. The Jordanian and Lebanese Constitutions do not explicitly proclaim this right, unlike the Moroccan and Tunisian constitutions, which are the result of social movements that began in 2011. Moreover, in some cases, institutions of a constitutional nature other than the national IGAI may intervene in defence of the right to access information. This chapter also discusses how the participation of these four MENA region countries in international conventions and accords has stimulated the renewal of the right to access information, and, more generally, that procedures resulting from legislation in this area remain complex and poorly used. Chapter 7 considers the legal nature and composition of the four IGAIs in question. It observes that the four countries have decided to create collegial institutions that do not all enjoy the same degree of independence.
The composition of the existing or to be created IGAI varies and often consists of the executive branch’s appointment of information sector professionals. Chapter 8 studies the general missions of the IGAIs. First, they monitor the right to information, which leads them to examine concepts of information and those persons obligated to communicate information, of proactive publication, the reuse of public information, limits to the right to access information, and the penalties incurred for infringing on the right to communication or for the undue disclosure of information. Secondly, the four IGAIs in question monitor the development of the commitment to access to information, write reports, provide their opinions on laws and regulations, evaluate the consecration of the right to access information, and share experiences with their foreign counterparts. Chapter 9 focuses on the system for requesting access to information by a person or group of persons by examining, first, the procedure for formulating a request from an entity that holds the information, and then, the IGAI’s decision-making procedures for an appeal of a decision refusing to communicate the information. Chapter 10 examines the IGAIs’ internal modes of operation and the potential existence of correspondent information officers in the various departments obligated to communicate information. Finally, Chapter 11 deals with the various forms of oversight over the IGAIs, be they administrative, political, hierarchical (from the executive branch), parliamentary, by citizens, civil society, or the courts.
The four MENA countries studied in this report are active actors in international relations. They collaborate actively with international organisations and they have signed international conventions, some of which concern the right to access information. However, aside from Jordan, which passed a law on access to information in 2007, the legislation on the right to access information in three of the countries examined has long remained deficient. Moreover, significant, recurrent gaps in the knowledge and application of legislation in all the countries examined have often been extensively criticised by observers and civil society.
The Arab Spring resulted in the adoption of new Constitutions in Morocco and Tunisia that include the right to access information. It also fostered, with the efforts of international institutions, the will to develop national legislations. This resulted in Tunisia’s, Lebanon’s, and Morocco’s adoption of new laws on access to information.
In each country, these legislations provide for the creation of a national, collegial-body IGAI to monitor the application of the right to access information, both generally and in relation to appeals against decisions to refuse communication. This is called the Council for Information in Jordan, the Authority for Access to Information in Tunisia, the National Anti-Corruption Commission in Lebanon, and the Commission on Access to Information in Morocco.
These IGAIs enjoy varying degrees of independence, as the appointment of their members is made mostly by the executive branch and rarely by the Parliament. The composition of these IGAIs varies. Often they are made up of public officials tied to their activities, but it sometimes extends past that to include representatives from civil society, for example. Logically, the IGAIs act in compliance with the areas of jurisdiction and rules established by the legislation. As bodies applying the law, IGAIs are obligated, in the exercise of their attributions, to interpret and apply the right of access to information. Like all other public institutions, IGAIs are ultimately subject to oversight by the courts, and in some cases, by the Parliament. This oversight may also be exercised by hierarchical superiors or by civil society.
These topics are discussed in Part II of this report as follows: the evolution of the right to access information in the four MENA region countries (Chapter 6); the legal nature and composition of the IGAIs (Chapter 7); the general missions of the IGAIs (Chapter 8); the processing of requests to access information (Chapter 9); the functioning of IGAIs and their agents (Chapter 10), and; oversight of the IGAIs (Chapter 11).