Right to information: Pakistani draft law rated highest

HALIFAX: A draft Right to Information Act prepared by the government of Pakistan has scored an astonishing 146 points on the RTI rating, which would put it 11 points ahead of the next best right to information law in the world, namely that of Serbia (which has 135 points), according to the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD). However, CLD today issued a note analysing the draft Act, pointing to a few areas where the draft could be tweaked to improve it even further. “This is a remarkable draft RTI law”, said Toby Mendel, Executive Director of CLD. “It would be wonderful if the government of Pakistan were to pass such a strong law and we would then be very happy to work with them and other stakeholders to support implementation.” CLD urges the government of Pakistan to move forward to adopt this excellent law.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2015.