Blanco González, René Óscar, Acceso a la información pública, transparencia y rendición de cuentas, Mexico, Colegio Nacional de Ciencias Políticas y Administración Pública, Sección Veracruz, Universidad de Xalapa, LIX Legislatura del H. Congreso del Estado de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Libertad de Información-México, A.C., 2004, 146 pp.

This monograph can be divided into three sections. The first develops all the basic concepts inherent to the right to access public information, transparency and accountability; the second section offers a comparative study between the institutions and legislation of the European Union, the United Kingdom and the states that comprise Mexico, and finally, a proposal is presented to improve domestic legislation.

The author points out that one of the advantages of having the right to access information is the transparency of government actions and decision-making and greater responsibility on the part of public servants. This results in the individuals who occupy such posts receiving a high degree of professional career training.

Thus, the main motivation behind the emergence of this right is to put an end to the corruption that occurs within the public administration. With this in mind, transparency laws and some international agreements have been created, an example being the Convention Against Bribery of Foreign Public Officials in International Business Transactions adopted by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

The study also points out that an important part of the right to access information involves accountability, which can be conceptualized as the `design of institutional methods and procedures that facilitate control and social supervision as an institutionalized practice`, thus achieving a high degree of political legitimacy and administrative efficiency. In Mexico, accountability is limited to property and asset declarations, which are not made available to the population, but are presented within the administrative political system.

Further on the book details the characteristics that a law on access to information should contain, among them:

1. All information held by government divisions is public, except for cases stipulated as such by the law.

2. Those subject to providing information should be specified.

3. The law should recognize the right to information and its universality as a human right.

4. The authorities cannot demand that the individual requesting the information justifies why he or she wants it.

5. The right to access information has exceptions. `Classified information` is of two types: reserved and confidential.

6. Reserved information would have to do with certain criteria mentioned by the law — for example, information that may affect the security of the public entity — as long as the law is clear and establishes precise categories.

7. Confidential information is related to individuals. It should protect personal data, specific information of a personal nature and medical files.

8. There is certain information that should be disclosed "ex officio" or due to legal obligations, even though no one has specifically requested it, for example, data on bidding processes and concessions, among many others.

The author begins the comparative study by highlighting the most important aspects of the US Freedom of Information Act, reporting that the applicant should file his or her request in writing and the only files that will not be furnished are those that are protected by the nine exceptions and the three special exemptions stipulated by the law.

The right to the information is guaranteed by the US judicial system. However, the Act, given that it corresponds to federal government divisions and agencies, has no faculties to determine rules for accessing information on a state or local government level. The states have their own legislation, procedures and timeframes to enable citizens to access state or municipal files.

In the United States, there is no state agency specifically in charge of everything concerning access to information, but rather each Secretary handles its own files, through an office that attends to the public or via the Internet.

Unlike the United States, the United Kingdom has an Information Commissioner´s Office, which has the authority to review denials of requests to release or disclose information of a public character. In addition, it issues recommendations to the authorities on compliance with their obligations in this regard. The decisions of the Information Commissioner´s Office can be appealed to the courts and among the exceptions contemplated are the archives of state security agencies and government administrative issues.

In the European Union,

citizens can make use of their right to access information by filing a request with the European Parliament, the Council or the Commission, without the need to justify it and independently of their nationality, place of residence, or legal status.

Documents are available that can be found in the Daily Gazette of the European Community or can be accessed directly through Internet sites. If the request is rejected or has not been responded to, the applicant has 15 days to ask for reconsideration. A negative response to the latter can be appealed to the European Ombudsman.

With regard to Mexico, Blanco González indicates the application procedure to be followed and the characteristics of the Federal Institute on Access to Information. The author also offers an analysis of the situation within Mexican states, indicating that `the degree of progress in enacting laws on transparency and access to public information, as well as the monitoring agencies contemplated in the legislation, vary tremendously in terms of disclosure, timeframes and procedures´, only 16 of the country´s states have laws on access to information, while in a further nine states proposals are under discussion.

The author once again indicates the procedure and the agencies in charge of protecting this right. He also explains the two types of administrative recourse contemplated; namely, motions of objection and reconsideration. He points out that the different legislation may or may not contain some transparency indicators, such as there being the obligation to publish information ex-officio, making draft legislative proposals public, disclosing information on bidding processes and public work projects, promoting a culture of access to information, or including sections on habeas data.

Finally, the author indicates how all of these concepts might be applied in the state of Veracruz, mainly focusing on the essential characteristics that the state Law on Access to Information should contain.

Above all, this book centers its analysis on the characteristics of the different legislation in the field and proposals for its content. This makes it important on the theoretical level, since the study not only focuses on the conception of the right to information and related issues, but also contemplates the possibilities for improving laws on public information, considering them to be a means for achieving a participatory society and a better quality public sector.

Marlene García Becerril