Second anniversary of Right to Information Act | Page 2 | Sunday Observer

Second anniversary of Right to Information Act

3 February, 2019

According to The Alliance of Journalists for Right to Information, the implementation of the Right to Information Act is one of the most important decisions taken in the recent past to empower the citizens of this country. Any citizen can seek and obtain information from public institutions under this Act and now this citizen empowering Act completes its second year.

The Editors Guild of Sri Lanka believes that during the past two years, media organisations, civil society and Sri Lankan citizens are satisfied with the implementation of the Act although there are criticisms.

Citizens have enjoyed this right through the relentless struggle for many decades by media and civil organisations. Therefore, the responsibility of keeping the Right to Information lies with the citizens, civil society and media activists. In the journey towards creating a society with democracy, good governance and transparency and to protect the fundamental rights of every citizen it is imperative that they ensure that the Right to Information Act is safeguarded and further strengthened.

The contribution of the concerned parties, including the Commission to strengthen the RTI Act in the past two years, has been commendable. However, it has to be pointed out that, in the event of the non-implementation of a judgment issued by the Information Commissioner, there is no system yet established to get redress from a higher court; this has to be rectified.

The Alliance of Journalists for Right to Information also observed that some state institutions had failed to respect the right to information.

To protect the gains won over the past two years, the Alliance of Journalists for Right to Information calls upon all stake-holders to respect and to use the RTI with confidence and commitment.

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