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UNESCO Launches Revised
Second Edition of Legal Survey on FOI
The United Nations Educational Scientific and
Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) on March 18 launched an entirely revised
and updated second edition of the book “Freedom of Information: A
Comparative Legal Survey” written by Toby Mendel at a two-day experts
group meeting on Freedom of Information and Sustainable Development held
at UNESCO Headquarters on March 17 and 18, 2008.
Mogens Schmidt, UNESCO's Deputy Assistant
Director-General for Communication and Information said at the launch
that the first edition of the book which has been translated into a
dozen of languages "has been a most valuable tool in UNESCO’s overall
capacity-building and advocacy work". He also wished that the book would
continue to serve as a resource of "living" information providing
technical assistance to legislators and to all stakeholders involved in
the implementation of freedom of information frameworks.
Mr. Mendel, the author, noted at the launch
that "since the last edition five years ago, we can now say that every
region of the world has adopted right to information laws," adding that
the right to information is now internationally established as a
fundamental right generated by the right to freedom of expression.
Mendel is the Law Programme Director with ARTICLE 19, Global
Campaign for Free Expression, a leading international human rights NGO
based in London.
The 156-page book expounds the basics of
freedom of information or right to information, defined as the universal
right to access information held by public bodies.
In the new edition, the introduction and the
comparative chapter, as well as the section on international standards
and trends, have been totally revised. More countries are included in
the new analysis. The publication also presents in an easy-to-understand
and non-technical fashion the basic principles of freedom of
information, such as maximum disclosure, obligation to publish,
promotion of open government, limited scope of exceptions and the
process to facilitate access.
The publication is available online for
download in PDF format at:
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/ev.php-URL_ID=26159&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html
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