Access to Information as a Human Right and Constitutional Guarantee. A Comparative Perspective

Michael Riegner

doi:10.5771/0506-7286-2017-4-332

Contents
- Chapter Expand | CollapseAuthorsPage
- 329–331 Titelei/Inhaltsverzeichnis 329–331
- 332–434 Abhandlungen / Articles 332–434
  - 332–366 Access to Information as a Human Right and Constitutional Guarantee. A Comparative Perspective Michael Riegner Michael Riegner 332–366
  - 367–389 Access to Information and Constitutional Accountability: Ruffling Feathers in South Africa Richard Calland Richard Calland 367–389
  - 390–411 State Transparency after the Neoliberal Turn: The Politics, Limits, and Paradoxes of India’s Right to Information Law Aradhana Sharma Aradhana Sharma 390–411
  - 412–434 The Right to Information System in Brazil: Tensions between Transparency and Control of Information Marcio Camargo Cunha Filho Marcio Camargo Cunha Filho 412–434
- 435–450 Berichte / Reports 435–450
  - Access to Environmental Information in the Context of Development Activities in the Legal Framework of Cameroon Jean-Claude N. Ashukem Jean-Claude N. Ashukem
- 451–464 Buchbesprechungen / Book Reviews 451–464
- 465–478 Bibliographie / Bibliography 465–478
  - 465–465 RECHT UND ENTWICKLUNG ALLGEMEIN / LAW AND DEVELOPMENT IN GENERAL 465–465
  - 465–469 AFRIKA /AFRICA 465–469
  - 469–471 ASIEN /ASIA 469–471
  - 471–474 LATEINAMERIKA / LATIN AMERICA 471–474
  - 474–478 NAHER UND MITTLERER OSTEN / NEAR AND MIDDLE EAST 474–478
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VRÜ Verfassung und Recht in Übersee , page 332 - 366

Access to Information as a Human Right and Constitutional Guarantee. A Comparative Perspective

Autoren

Michael Riegner

DOI
- doi.org/10.5771/0506-7286-2017-4-332
- ISSN: 0506-7286
- ISSN online: 2941-9603
Abstract

Since the 1990s, there has been a “global explosion of freedom of information” as new constitutions have enshrined the right to information, legislators have enacted access to information acts, and courts have enforced and expanded individual guarantees to seek information from public authorities. Activists, journalists and citizens have welcomed access to state-held information (ATI) as a leverage right that empowers the powerless and improves democracy. The burgeoning scholarly literature on ATI culminates in the claim that freedom of information is part of a fourth wave of rights, equivalent to civil, political and social rights. This overview article takes stock of the existing ATI scholarship, identifies gaps and methodological weaknesses in extant literature, and lays out an approach for future research. It argues for a methodological approach to ATI research that combines a context-sensitive comparison across the North-South divide with socio-legal methods and a multi-level perspective. This approach indicates that conceptually, ATI should be understood as a multi-level and multi-functional guarantee, shaped by an interplay of multiple levels of law and the multiple social functions it performs. Theoretically and empirically, ATI has emancipatory potential to shift power relations in individual cases but is less effective in destabilizing entrenched power structures and inequalities. Findings on ATI contribute to general debates among constitutional lawyers, international law scholars and comparatists about the globalization of law and the transformation of rights in the information society.
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