Access to Information: A Tool to Fight Corruption

Corruption persists as a worldwide problem. In 2004, the World Bank Institute estimated that more than $1 trillion US dollars is paid in bribes each year. Over a decade of concerted work to fight the scourge of corruption has not translated into universal reduction. Perhaps even more troubling is the fact that, the 12th International Anti-Corruption Conference suggested that “public expectations about the likelihood of corruption are more pessimistic now than five years ago.”

Generally defined as “an act of doing something with intent to give some advantage inconsistent with official duty and the rights of others, corrupt acts include government official who accepts a bribe, absconds with public monies, or play favorites providing contracts to his family or friends.”2 Equally deleterious to public confidence may be acts that do not carry the intent of corruption, but that nonetheless adversely impact society and the efficient functioning of the state. For all of these forms of corruption or failure to perform appropriately, an access to information regime could serve as an effective counterbalance.

Inadequate public access to information allows corruption to flourish, and back-room deals to determine spending in the interests of the few rather than many. Through an established access to information act (otherwise known as a freedom of information act), a more knowledgeable citizenry may participate more fully in public life, help determine priorities for public spending, and hold their public officials accountable. Access to information clearly provides the rules of the game for individuals, civil society organisations, private sector businesses and media as they seek to uncover and understand government policy and decisions. It addresses the perception of corruption, providing the government with a standard, uniform means to disseminate information, thus increasing trust in its policies. An ATI law helps people to follow the money from supply to demand in an effort to root out corruption.

An increasing number of countries have identified the benefits of an access to information regime, and nowhere is this clearer than in the English-speaking Caribbean. The first country to count on an ATI law in this region was Belize in 1994. Unfortunately however, the Freedom of Information Act of Belize was established with little debate and no civil society input, reducing its credibility, implementation and its impact. Some five years later, Trinidad and Tobago passed its own legislation, and Jamaica followed closely with the Access to Information Act of 2002. More recently Antigua and Barbuda passed a law and other states like Guyana, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands and Cayman Islands are seeking to establish their own access to information regime. But the passage of a law alone is insufficient redress to the pernicious problem of corruption. It is only in the law’s application that corruption may be combated.

For instance, the Access to Information Act 2002 went into effect in Jamaica in 2004 and since that time over a thousand requests for information have been made, many of them related to suspected corruption. In one case, an individual noted that the Governor-General (and his wife) were using a state helicopter to travel from Kingston to Montego Bay some 100 kilometers away, but that only groceries were being transported. This citizen requested the log book that contained the details of the trips undertaken to identify whether these expensive publicly funded flights were truly necessary for state purposes. A second set of requests for information was submitted in response to concern over the salary of the Director of the National Railways, his staff and the costs for rental and maintaining his luxury offices. The information sought and received was particularly fascinating as Jamaica no longer has a functioning national railway.

Although there are a number of examples of the valuable use of transparency tools to understand government policies and hold its decision-makers accountable, without publication of the findings, and then subsequent policy reform or prosecution the access to information law alone will be insufficient to reach the goal of diminished corruption. The influence of ATI laws, when coupled with a vibrant media and effective enforcement tools, will serve as a crucial element in reducing the influence of money on public officials, the seepage of critical development funds, the skepticism of the public in their government, and ultimately ensure a more successful international struggle against corruption.