Justice Initiative Urges Top Paraguay Court to Recognize Right to Information

ASUNCION, Paraguay—As part of an ongoing effort to promote the right of access to information and build on the precedent set by the landmark case Claude Reyes v. Chile, today the Open Society Justice Initiative filed a "friend of the court" brief with the Supreme Court of Paraguay, urging the tribunal to recognize a right of general access to government information. The brief, which was endorsed by a coalition of regional free expression groups, also argues in favor of disclosure of basic information about the salaries of government officials. This is the first time a case concerning the right to information has reached Paraguay's top court. 

The case, Vargas Telles v. City of San Lorenzo, arises out of a freedom of information request filed by Mr. Vargas, who had concerns about the city's hiring and contracting processes. Vargas demanded access to the names, titles, and salaries of city officials and contractors, but the city rejected the request summarily, arguing that the disclosure would violate the officials' privacy rights. After a court of appeal sided with the city, Mr. Vargas, with the support of the Office of the National Public Defender, filed a constitutional challenge with the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court. He argues that the lower courts failed to comply with his right of access to "public sources of information," guaranteed by Paraguay's Constitution and the American Convention on Human Rights.

Paraguay is one of a few remaining countries in Latin America that have yet to adopt a freedom of information (FoI) act or otherwise recognize a right of general access to state-held information. A civil society-driven attempt to pass a FoI Act in 2006 was voted down in the Senate. Two domestic courts of appeal have expressly recognized the right of access, but the Supreme Court case provides an opportunity to set a broader and binding precedent.

The Justice Initiative brief argues that, notwithstanding the Paraguayan Senate's failure to act, domestic recognition of a right of access to government information is now the rule, rather than an exception, in Latin America. The 2006 Claude Reyes ruling of the Inter-American Court on Human Rights, which held that the right of access is a component of the fundamental right to freedom of expression, is binding on Paraguay and other states parties to the American Convention. The new right is defined by the regional Court in terms sufficiently clear and precise to require authorities in all states parties, including their own courts, to "give effect" to it. Courts in Argentina, Chile and Peru have already invoked Claude Reyes in their right to information case law.

To provide broader context and models for comparison, the brief presents an overview of the laws and practices of fourteen leading jurisdictions in Latin America and other parts of the world regarding disclosure of official salary information. It finds that, in general, "they make public data about the salary ranges of most, if not all, government officials and employees, as well as the actual salaries of senior officials."

The Vargas brief marks the Justice Initiative's third intervention since 2006 in litigation before top domestic courts, aimed, among other goals, at promoting compliance with the Claude Reyes precedent. Earlier efforts included briefs filed with the Constitutional Court of Chile in a case that resulted in recognition of the constitutional status of the right of access in that country; and a case before the Constitutional Court of Peru that produced greater disclosure of information contained in official asset declarations.

Freedom of information experts from fourteen countries contributed comparative information for the brief. The submission was also endorsed and supplemented, in a separate filing with the Paraguay Supreme Court, by members of the Alianza Regional para la Libertad de Expresión e Información, Latin America's leading coalition of freedom of expression and information groups.