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On May 15th, 2012, the Law No. 12,527/2011 entered
into force. Such Law, which regulates broad access to public
information, in accordance with Brazilian Federal Constitution,
item XXXIII of Art. 5, § 3º of Art. 37 and §
2º of Art. 216, brought a significant change in the way
public information shall be disclosed to the society.
Information is considered as any type of data, regardless of its
format, which can be used for producing and transmitting knowledge.
Access to information, however, does not include data used in
scientific or technological research and development projects when
their disclosure may affect the society and/or State safety.
The basic guidelines of Law 12,527 are: (i) the rule is that all
public documents shall be publicly disclosed and the data
confidentiality shall be exceptional; (ii) the disclosure of
information of public interest shall occur regardless of requests;
(iii) the disclosure of information shall be made by means of any
type of communication available; (iv) it aims at promoting the
development of a culture of transparency in the public
administration and its control by society.
The State shall ensure the information management transparency,
promoting it broad access by the public and its dissemination,
controlling any information restriction or confidentiality and the
disclosure of personal information.
Since the enactment of Law 12.527/2011, any citizen, upon
request, may have access to relevant information of any
governmental authorities, whether federal, state or local. The
request shall only contain the name of the person who is requesting
and the information specifications, being the provider government
authority prevented to require any justification and/ reasoning for
such information request.
The information request may be performed by any person through
any available and legitimate means and the public authority shall
enable alternative ways for information access through official
websites.
Access to required information shall be rendered immediately. In
case it is not possible to promptly disclose the information, the
relevant public authority shall suggest a place and time for it. In
the case of confidential information, the public authority may
justifiably refuse to provide it.
Any information disclosure refusal may be challenged, through an
administrative proceeding.
Law No. 12.527/2011 is applicable to information held by any
public authority, including executive, judicial and legislative
branches, state-owned companies and public entities.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general
guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought
about your specific circumstances.
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Chile has enacted laws and regulations for the protection of personal data applicable to public and private databases.
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