Documents and publications
Newsletter Nº 4
March 21, 2003

CONTENT

1. UNCONSTITUTIONAL RESOURCE PRESENTED BY THREE NON-GUBERNAMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS BEFORE THE COURT
   OF THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES
   
   
2. CITIZENS' FREE ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION

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UNCONSTITUTIONAL RESOURCE PRESENTED BY THREE NON-GUBERNAMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS BEFORE THE COURT OF THE CITY OF BUENOS AIRES
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The Association for Civil Rights (ADC), the Centre of Legal and Social Studies (CELS) and the Environment and Natural Resources Foundation (FARN), presented the action before the Court of the City of Buenos Aires in order to declare the unconstitutionality and the validity loss of the Legislature's Resolution 389/2002, through which it was restricted the citizens' access to the sessions, and at the same time this resolution ignored the legal orders from three juries of the Administrative Litigation Contentious Jurisdiction of the City of Buenos Aires, who issued some judgements to stop such a decision.

The Legislature took these decisions due to the opposition of the veto - determined by the Governmental Head Aníbal Ibarra- to the Law Nº 871, that had declared the work unhealthiness in the subways of the City, limiting the working day to six hours.

Such a decision, far from guaranteeing the free and secure functioning of the Legislature, is a clear attempt to restrict the public participation and the citizen control of the governmental actions, and at the same time, it keeps this power away from the principles that rule the law status, that determine nor person nor institution can separate from the compliance of justice's decisions, and cannot assume faculties to determine what kind of subject matters can or cannot be judicially reviewed.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

   Unconstitutionality Explanatory Action
   http://www.farn.org.ar/arch/acciondeclarativa.pdf

   NGOs Statement
   http://www.farn.org.ar/eventos/gacetillas/vs021105.html

   Section 74 from the Statute of the City of Buenos Aires
   http://www.legislatura.gov.ar/1legisla/constcba.htm

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CITIZENS' FREE ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION
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The Chamber of Deputies of the Nation failed when trying to give partial approval to the bill "Access to Public Information" during the last ordinary session of the year. When it was the moment to treat the initiative of the access to public information law, which is a key tool for the strengthening of public participation and transparency in the government's management, the Chamber of Deputies stood with no quorum due to the surprising and simultaneous abandon of several legislators, and such a thing turned impossible the consideration of the project.

The non-governmental organizations elaborated a declaration (" Denying information is denying democracy") asking the President of the Nation to include this subject in the ordinary sessions, and they had a meeting with the Minister of Justice, Dr Juan José Álvarez, who committed himself to handle this subject. Up to now, the Executive Branch of the Nation has not added the bill to the programme of the Congress.

Nevertheless, the organizations are still working, hardly committed, on the incidence's actions in order to include the treatment of the initiative's project access to public information law before the period of extraordinary sessions finishes, that is to say, February 2003.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

   Editorial "La Nación" Journal
   http://www.farn.org.ar/arch/editorial021208.pdf

   Civic Lobby for public information
   http://www.infocivica.org/nota.asp?ID=852&Ultimo=0