The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has welcomed the proposed Information Bill 2016 by the government.
The Office made their submissions this morning to the Standing Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights.
The proposed Information Bill 2016 has been highly praised by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.
During their submission, the Office stated that the adaptation of freedom of information legislation which is compliant with international standards would constitute another step towards the consolidation of democracy in the country.
They also submitted that while the Bill contains a number of positive elements, their Office would like to submit some suggestions focusing on possible areas of improvement.
“This is a piece of legislation that has been in the making for several years and we are very pleased it’s being considered by Parliament. We consider that freedom of information is an essential building block of democracy access to information is the first step before citizens can actually participate in public debates.” said United Nations Human Rights Deputy Regional Rep Catherine Phuong.
The United Nations Human Rights Office also submitted that the main areas for possible improvement of the Bill refer to exemptions and expanding areas for accessing information.
“We hope that the Bill will be adopted in fill compliance of international human rights standards as it currently stands the Bill is a good legislation.” added Phuong.
The office also stated that the adoption of freedom of information legislation would also contribute to the implementation of recommendation made during the 2nd Universal Periodic Review of Fiji.