Can an Open Access Approach be the Solution to Better Implementation of the Right to Information Act in Bangladesh?

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-68
Author(s):  
Harold Sougato Baroi ◽  
Shawkat Alam ◽  
Carlos Bernal

Legal implementation has always been a challenge in Bangladesh. The Right to Information Act 2009 (the RTI Act) was introduced in Bangladesh with the objective of ensuring people’s access to government information for improving accountability and empowering people to participate in decisions that shape the social, economic, and political aspects of their lives. However, this article suggests that there has been no significant improvement in accessing government information despite the enactment and the strategies for the implementation of the RTI Act. Most citizens are unaware of their legal entitlements to seek and receive information. Only a small number of applications have been registered with public offices since the RTI Act was introduced in 2009. The article argues that one of the main reasons behind the lack of improvement is that the chosen implementation approach fails to engage the public to exercise their right to access information related to government services. This article claims that a proactive and deliberative approach to information disclosure is a much better alternative to the current scheme for implementing the RTI Act.

Author(s):  
Elena Unguru

Social work acts at within the public and private fields. From an ethical point of view, the first one is governed by the society's right to information and the social worker's obligation for transparency. The second one is the beneficiary's right to private life and the social worker's obligation of confidentiality. The two sets of competing rights and obligations define the dual nature of social work to act both in the public sphere, as well as the private one. Starting from the case of Tarasoff, the American instances stated that the obligation of the therapist to protect the possible victims is a priority to that of confidentiality. The current chapter follows the meaning of this obligation in the practice of social work, as well as the clarification of the importance and limits of applicability of the principle of confidentiality in social work.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arber Balani ◽  
Olga Vladimirovna Glushakova ◽  
Yaroslava Vaysberg ◽  
Natalia Vasilievna Fadeikina ◽  
Vladimir Vasilevich Mikhailov ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
_______ Naveen ◽  
_____ Priti

The Right to Information Act 2005 was passed by the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) Government with a sense of pride. It flaunted the Act as a milestone in India’s democratic journey. It is five years since the RTI was passed; the performance on the implementation frontis far from perfect. Consequently, the impact on the attitude, mindset and behaviour patterns of the public authorities and the people is not as it was expected to be. Most of the people are still not aware of their newly acquired power. Among those who are aware, a major chunk either does not know how to wield it or lacks the guts and gumption to invoke the RTI. A little more stimulation by the Government, NGOs and other enlightened and empowered citizens can augment the benefits of this Act manifold. RTI will help not only in mitigating corruption in public life but also in alleviating poverty- the two monstrous maladies of India.


Author(s):  
S. E. Demidova ◽  

Government interference in the social-economic processes through the implementation of anti-crisis measures and fiscal expansion holds the embodiment of financial risks for economic entities. As a result, government debt and budget gaps at the continuing drop of real disposable household income and companies’ profitability grow. Over a long-term horizon, the decisions made can cause a financial system misbalance and new risk generation, including systemic risks in the sphere of public finance. The author carries out the theoretical research of financial system risks, which can result in a decrease in the system stability in general. The study determines that there is no single theoretical concept of financial risks of the public sector. Within the research, the author analyzed the approaches to systemic risks in various economic sectors and decomposed systemic risk of the public finance sphere. The study specified global factors of influence on the financial system stability, determined the impact factors and common fiscal limitations considering the needs in the execution of state obligations. The pandemic factor – COVID-19 spread is highlighted as an exogenous factor of impact on the formation of financial system misbalances. The main threat to the financial system stability considered in terms of the functional-institutional approach is the deficiency of economic entities’ liquidity. Unprecedented budgetary measures of anti-crisis financial regulation, the deferred impact – tax preferences, and monetary measures had an immediate influence on the liquidity volume during the implementation of anti-COVID activities. Tools of budgetary monitoring, budget expenditures reviews, tax expenditures reviews, and budget consolidation ensure the budget mechanism flexibility. Factors producing financial system risks and the selected measures of state regulation will set the trends for the social-economic development of the country in the coming years.


Author(s):  
Erika Maria Sampaio Rocha ◽  
Thiago Dias Sarti ◽  
George Dantas de Azevedo ◽  
Jonathan Filippon ◽  
Carlos Eduardo Gomes Siqueira ◽  
...  

Abstract: Introduction: The scarcity and inequalities in the geographical distribution of physicians challenge the consolidation of the right to health and create migratory flows that increase health inequities. Due to their complex and multidimensional characteristics, they demand multisectoral political approaches, considering several factors related to the availability and area of practice of medical doctors, as well as the social vulnerability of local populations. Objective: This study aimed at analysing results of the “Mais Médicos” (More Doctors) Program Educational Axis in Brazil. Methodology: A documental research was conducted, highlighting the location and the public or private nature of new undergraduate medical school vacancies between the years 2013 until 2017, which were then compared to the goals and strategies outlined in the official Program documents. Results: The Educational Axis reached important milestones despite the resistance of some institutional actors. The Program extended its undergraduate vacancies by 7696 places, 22.48% of that in public institutions and 77.52% in private ones. Vacancy distribution prioritized cities in rural areas of Brazil, at the same instance bringing forward significant regulatory changes for undergraduate medical courses. However, political disputes with representatives of medical societies and stakeholders interested in favouring the private educational and healthcare sectors surface in the official discourses and documents. These factors weakened the program normative body, creating a hiatus between its core objectives and respective implementation. Evidence related to the concentration of vacancies in the Southeast regions allow the maintenance of a known unequal workforce distribution, despite a proportionally bigger increase in the Midwest, North and Northeast regions. Conclusion: The predominance of vacancies in private institutions and the weakening of the new undergraduate courses monitoring instruments can compromise changes in the graduate students’ profiles, which are necessary for the fixation of physicians in strategic geographic areas to promote Primary Healthcare.


Author(s):  
Muh Effendi

Writing this thesis aims to find out the form of legal protection and restrictions on the right to information that can be done in cyberspace. Because of the rapid advances in technology, there are also more problems that arise from this virtual world, this is the background of this thesis writing because it is very important to know what can and should not be done according to laws governing the world this virtual. Some countries, including Indonesia, restrict the right to electronic information, although this kind of regulation, both formally and materially, is contrary to the rights of individuals to privacy and information, but there are other people's rights that also need to be protected and state security that must be protected. The birth of law number 11 of 2008 which was revised to law number 19 of 2016 is clear evidence of the limitation of the right to information in Indonesia, because Indonesia upholds human rights but with this law Indonesia also aims to maintain security or country stability. The conclusion reached is: that the state protects the right to information and the use of technology but is also obliged to protect the public interest from all kinds of disturbances arising from misuse of information, especially through electronic media that disturb public order, or so-called jurisdiction.


2021 ◽  
pp. 203228442110283
Author(s):  
Ashlee Beazley ◽  
Fien Gilleir ◽  
Michele Panzavolta ◽  
Joëlle Rozie ◽  
Miet Vanderhallen

This article is about the right to remain silent within Belgium. Although the right has always been considered applicable, both the courts and parliament have historically demonstrated a disinclination to define or engage with this. The right to silence is now formally recognised in the Belgian Code of Criminal Procedure, albeit with the classic distinction between those who are not (yet) accused of a crime and those who are formal suspects: while all enjoy the right not to incriminate themselves, only formal suspects in Belgium enjoy the explicit right to remain silent. Accordingly, whilst no one may be obliged to assist with their own conviction or be forced to co-operate with the authorities, it remains unclear how far the right not to cooperate effectively stretches. The case law seems to be moving, albeit slowly, in the direction of confining this right within narrower borders, particularly by excluding its applicability with regard to the unlocking and decryption of digital devices. This is not, however, the only idiosyncrasy concerning the right to silence in Belgium. Among those also addressed in this article are: the lack of caution on the right to remain silent given to arrested persons immediately following their deprivation of liberty (an absence striking for its apparent breach of Directive 2012/13/EU on the right to information in criminal proceedings); the possible inducement to breach the right to silence via the discretionary powers of the public prosecutor to offer a reduction or mitigation in sentence; the obscurity surrounding the definition of ‘interrogation’ and the consequences of this on both the caution and the obtaining of statements; and the extent to which judges can draw adverse inferences from the right to silence. The question remains: is the right to silence currently protected enough?


2015 ◽  
pp. 1737-1762
Author(s):  
John Ubena

This chapter provides a critical analysis of the legal framework for access to information particularly information held by government in Tanzania. The analysis intends to establish whether the existing Right To Information (RTI) legal framework and ICT development in Tanzania facilitates universal and requisite access to government information. In order to do that, the chapter utilises a literature review to understand contemporary trends in both theory and practice. In addition, journal articles, books, reports, case law, and pieces of legislation focusing on RTI are visited to obtain deeper insights in the topic under scrutiny. The findings indicate that, despite Tanzania's efforts to embrace democracy virtues, good governance, and technology, the country lacks adequate legal framework to facilitate universal access to government information and ensure that the Right To Information (RTI) is observed in all the socio-economic contexts. To rectify this problem, there is need to enact the RTI law with clear focus of encouraging access to government information. Although two bills (the Media Service Bill [MSB] and the 2011 RTI) are currently being debated, it is not clear yet when they will become law and subsequently practiced.


Author(s):  
Kuldeep Mathur

This chapter examines administrative accountability through the democratic pillar of public transparency. One of the pillars of democratic accountability is the availability of adequate information in the public domain about the functioning government. It has taken a social movement for transparency in government to establish people’s right to information through the passage of the Right to Information Act in 2005. However, traditional administration has not reconciled to its demands and PPPs are kept out of its purview on the plea that they are not public authorities. The Lok Pal (ombudsman) Bill has been passed in response to another struggle of civil society.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 558-569
Author(s):  
Ana B Gil-GonzÁlez ◽  
Andrea VÁzquez-Ingelmo ◽  
Fernando de la Prieta ◽  
Ana de Luis-Reboredo ◽  
Alfonso GonzÁlez-Briones

Abstract A patent is a property granted to any new shape, configuration or arrangement of elements, of any device, tool, instrument, mechanism or other object or part thereof, that allows for a better or different operation, use or manufacture of the object that incorporates it or that provides it with some utility, advantage or technical effect that it did not have before. As a document, a patent really is a title that recognizes the right to exploit the patented invention exclusively, preventing others from making, selling or using it without the consent of the owner. The fact of making a patent is motivated by the fact of promoting creativity, hindering competition in the market as only one person holds the patent, thus protecting the initial investment and fighting against plagiarism. Patents are available to the public for dissemination and general knowledge. It is generally recognized in the specialized literature that patents can be used as an indicator to calculate the results generated by research and development activities, being a very useful indicator to measure various social, economic or technological aspects. For this reason, it is of relevant interest to have tools or systems that allow us to obtain the patents developed in a specific period of time and to carry out analyses of various economic and social factors. These analyses can serve to obtain a social perspective of society’s progress in the technological field, and this is why an analysis of patents is of our interest. This paper proposes a platform specifically designed to obtain knowledge about patents as an indicator of Spanish social, economic or technological aspects. For this purpose, the platform retrieves, analyses and visualizes functionalities that represent data on the landscape of patents obtained from the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) as a particular case of study.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document