Editorial»
Information and democracy
JAN 18 - The right to access information held by public bodies, has long been recognised not only as a major component of democracy, accountability, and effective participation, but also as a fundamental human right, reserved under international and constitutional law. Since the world entered into the democratic era, there has always been some anxiety between the need for openness and the yearning for secrecy. The public have raised a rightful interest in being kept informed about the activities of government, while governments have shown their genuine concern in withholding information in certain circumstances like national security, national integration, and privacy of individual and other serious concerns. The debate is yet to settle.
The constitution of the Kingdom of Nepal 1990 guarantees the right to receive and demand information regarding the matters of ‘public-importance’ but fails to define what exactly the ‘public importance’ is and is also silent about the process and method. The matter of secrecy, as the constitution says, to be maintained and determined by law is blurred because the law is yet to be enacted by parliament which seems impossible to come into existence for sometimes more. So what is more about the right to information in Nepal’s constitution?
Nothing. Just inclusion of the concept. Being aware of the fact that article 16 and other descriptions of the 1990 constitution are not adequate to guarantee the right to information to the people, Dr Ram Krishna Timalsena, the spokesperson of the Supreme Court has brought out a comprehensive research on the issue, Right to Information: Philosophy, Law and Practices. Though several other articles i e preamble enshrines philosophy of open government, the provision of press and publication right, (article13) the right to freedom of opinion and expression (12), cultural and educational right (18) and directive principle of the state support and strengthen the right to information, they shall stay behind until a concrete and meticulous law is prepared for their meaningful exercise.
The writer proposes a bill, The Right to Information Bill, to make provision for securing access to information under the control of public authorities and with matters connected with it. The information seekers shall have to file an application with the public information officer (the government shall appoint Pubic Information Officer in every public office) who will pass orders either granting or refusing the request of getting the particular of the information, document ~ ~ or records, and applicant shall be responded within twenty working days. But a tiny loophole! Article 10 of the bill provides right for the government to prescribe application fee for access to information. In the name of the service charge, corruption may flourish under the new title.
The book, the first of its kind in Nepal, shows the evolution and some global development of the right to information, present status of the issue worldwide and some components interconnected with it. With a comparative study of the right to information in India, Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, Dr Timalsena is concerned that this concept in Nepal is yet to be born practically though the 1990 constitution had merely given its birth.
At a time when the government remains indifferent to the people’s fundamental right, what role can the judiciary play which is considered as an independent right, what role can the judiciary play which is considered as an independent institution and last resort for justice? So much. The Supreme Court of Nepal is never silent over this issue and has broken ice deciding some cases interrelated to the right to information. The writer of the book, having a long experience in judiciary, includes major cases correlated with the issue which have proved that the subject of government’s indifference has also received serious attention of the judiciary of Nepal.
No government can now seriously contradict that the public have a right to information or those fundamental principles of democracy and accountability demand that public bodies should be operated in a transparent manner. But the case is a bit different in the developing nations or the LDCs (Least Developed Countries) as compared to that of the developed countries.
In many LDCs, democracy is not functioning in a healthy atmosphere as the public have yet to come across economic and social right. When the prerequisite for the right to information is robust democracy, it seems, the people of LDCs do have a slim chance to use this right and only the MDCs (Most Developed Countries) public shall entertain it for years to come. But the stronger part is: right to information is a major component of democracy and this concept is to be considered as a vertebral column for the socio-economic transformation of the country through the medium of informed citizens. The use of the right to information will to contribute to solve many social and cultural problems of the individual and the society though there are some pre-conditions which are related to economic, social, cultural and political development to realise it.
By writing such a commendable volume, Dr Timalsena has really done a laudable job, a ground breaking contribution for the school of human rights in Nepal. A sitting joint secretary of the judiciary, young and promising scholar, he deserves plaudits for his intellectual contribution, which only a freelance intellectual could have done. Besides some technical lapses, the book is a milestone and a bible for the concept of right to information in Nepal.
Reviewed by Puspha Raj PoudelPosted on: 2004-01-19 04:35
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