Barriers to transparency and access
| Autor | .Gregory Michener - Luiz Fernando Marrey Moncau - Rafael Velasco |
| Ocupação do Autor | Associate Professor, Ebape/Fgv Director, Program for Public Transparency - Manager Center for Technology and Society (Centro de Tecnologia e Sociedade), Fgv Direito Rio - Program Coordinator Program for Public Transparency, Fgv. |
| Páginas | 103-116 |
When the PTP/FGV analyzed the responses of the Brazilian courts to the stu-
dy’s FOI requests, it became evident that many challenges remain in guaranteeing
the right to public information. This section highlights the main obstacles to achie-
ving compliance with the FOI law. Both the General and Judiciary Branch Audits
identified some key barriers and challenges. However, certain practices in the ju-
diciary merit specific attention. Here we identified a culture of excessively legalis-
tic justifications in which unfounded rationales for the denial of FOI requests were
commonplace. In many instances we observed that responses pointed to a complex
maze of legal norms, with responses so complicated that it was impossible to un-
derstand the basis for the court’s decision.
Therefore the challenge for Brazilian courts is to find a balance between res-
ponding with clarity and simplicity, while continuing to properly explain the basis for
the denial of FOI requests.
In an attempt to categorize the challenges encountered, the barriers to FOI are
divided as follows:
Bureaucratic barriers: regarding the method of submitting the request (e.g.,
specific platform, email, in-person, etc.), requirements for the request (e.g.,
required information, etc.), or selection of the appropriate entity/department
responsible for handling requests;
Legalistic, or broad interpretation of the law barriers: regarding the legal basis
for the rejection of requests, or cases in which broad interpretations of the
exemptions included in the FOI law were used;
Technical barriers: regarding the format or the level of aggregation of the
requested information, which could preclude the visualization or analysis of the
information requested.
CHAPTER 6 BARRIERS TO TRANSPARENCY
AND ACCESS
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