Thursday, February 25, 2010, the organizations which are part of the Regional Alliance for the Freedom of Expression and Access to Information appeared before the Paraguayan Supreme Court as Friends of the Court, (Amicus Curiae) to express their founded opinion on the case “Office of the Ombudsman vs. the San Lorenzo City Hall” which must be solved by the Supreme Court.
In this trial, the Office of the Ombudsman is questioning the constitutionality of the decision made by the Court of Appeals, Civil and Commercial Matters, 5th Room, which had originally denied Mr. Vargas Telles right to access information on who were the government officials working at the San Lorenzo City Hall, their duties and salaries.
Ten organization from the Americas: The Costa Rican Association for Press and Freedom of Expression Institute - IPLEX, the Colombian Foundation for Freedom of Press - FLIP, the Pro-Access Foundation of Chile, Fundamedios from Ecuador, the Press and Society Institute from Peru and the Trust for the Americas from the OAS presented themselves as members of the Regional Alliance. Individually, Juan Javier Zeballos, executive director of the Bolivian National Press Association (ANP), Katya Salazar, executive director of the American Due Process of Law Foundation (DPLF), Alvaro Herrero director of the Argentinean Association for Civil Rights and Edison Lanza, executive director of the Uruguayan Archives and Information Center, CAINFO presented themselves as well.
Along with the Regional Alliance for the Freedom of Expression and Access to Information, the Open Society Institute - OSI/Justice Initiative, with headquarters in New York, also presented themselves as Friends of the Court. The Paraguayan organizations, Center for the Information and Resources for Development (Centro de Información y Recursos para el Desarrollo – CIRD), Center for Judicial Studies (Centro de Estudios Judiciales – CEJ) and Seeds for Democracy (Semillas para la Democracia) adhered to the Regional Alliance and OSI.
The Friends of the Court formally informed the Supreme Court on the relevance of the right to access public information in the Americas and results particularly important for the consolidation, functioning and preservation of the governmental democratic systems.
The case Office of the Ombudsman vs. the San Lorenzo City Hall will be the first case on access to information to be solved by the Paraguayan Supreme Court. Additionally it is the first case to reach a Latin-American Supreme Court after Claude Reyes vs. Chile which was solved by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2006, where the right to access public information was established as a fundamental right for everyone since it allows people to exercise another fundamental right and pillar of the democratic systems: freedom of expression.
It is important to note that this would be the first time in Paraguay in which international organizations appear under the figure of Amici Curiae to file an opinion from the Supreme Court. Besides, this case will be solved by all the justices of the Supreme Court who will all make up the Constitutional Court.
The right to access information is a fundamental tool for democratic participation, transparency and compliance of the social, civil and political rights.
Paraguay does not yet count on a law of access to public information. Thus the Supreme Court’s decision will be of key importance for the future exercise of this right by all Paraguayans and an obligatory reference when analyzing similar cases in the region.
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The Regional Alliance for the Freedom of Expression and Access to Information is a coalition uniting 24 leading organizations on matters of freedom of expression and access to information in Latin America and United States. This continental initiative facilitates the execution of activities regarding institutional strengthening and Exchange of policies and practices of governmental transparency and the civic rights of freedom of expression, press and Access to information.
