তথ্য অধিকার আইন

Friday, November 15, 2024

Shamsul Bari and Ruhi Naz

Since the interim government of Bangladesh assumed power in August 2024, we have
been advocating for the immense potential of the Right to Information Act (RTI) 2009
in promoting transparent and accountable governance. In today’s column, we highlight
a crucial principle of transparency currently missing from our RTI Act but deserving
inclusion: the “public interest override.” The principle has been incorporated into the
laws of many liberal democracies worldwide, making it a part of a larger global
movement.
International standards for transparent governance, which have evolved since the end
of the Second World War, advocate for the “principle of maximum disclosure” as the
ideal for all RTI laws. It asserts that, as a general rule, citizens have the right to access
all information held by the government, with very few exceptions. These exceptions
should be as narrow as possible and aimed solely at protecting the state’s legitimate
interests. In other words, public interest should be the yardstick when balancing
citizens’ right to information concerning governance and the state’s legitimate need to
safeguard certain sensitive information. Read more