The Right to Access Information in Light of The Palestinian Draft-Law, Comparative Legislation, and International Standards رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

This thesis has dealt with the right to access information, in a way that includes the text of the Palestinian draft law regulating the right to access information, as well as what is enshrined in comparative legislation and international standards in this context, through a major problem on which the study relied, as this problem is related to the study of The legal regulation of the right to access information, including all components mentioned in the title of the study, specifically the Palestinian draft law, comparative legislation and international standards. As for the importance of the study, it was represented in what the study expresses of theoretical importance, so that the latter is related to the consideration of the right to access information as the rights related to the right to freedom of opinion and expression, which are guaranteed in contemporary constitutions, and within the scope of the Palestinian Basic Law, specifically the chapter on rights and freedoms Therefore, guaranteeing and consecrating the right to access information necessarily means protecting the political system, with all its components, including rights and freedoms. As for the practical importance of the study, it is represented in emphasizing that devoting the right to access information leads to achieving the objectives of that right, including the embodiment of good governance, open government, and the achievement of popular oversight, Promoting human rights and public freedoms within the framework of the state, in addition to strengthening measures to prevent and combat corruption. In terms of the current importance of the study, it gains its importance from the existence of a draft law on the right to access information in the Palestinian reality, which needs to be studied to explain its advantages and disadvantages, in order to endorse it in a manner consistent with international standards. V The researcher relied on the comparative analytical approach, as he adopted the methodology of dividing the study into two chapters. In the first chapter, he dealt with the definition of the right to access information in local and comparative legislation, jurisprudence, and international standards, in addition to addressing the guarantees and obstacles to the right to obtain information. As for the second chapter, the procedures and restrictions of the right to access information were examined, including the means of the right to obtain information, as well as the exceptions to that right. The researcher reached a set of results and recommendations, which could be useful in terms of practical and applied reality. Between activating the right to access information and considerations of public order, privacy and other relevant considerations, as well as emphasizing the joints and axes of the law on the right to access information, so that this law does not include an unjustified restriction of the right, and ensuring the independence of the party responsible for applying the law and providing information. Likewise, exceptions should not be made the rule. Rather, the right should not be emptied of its content through unjustified and arbitrary restrictions. Also, stressing the need for a serious legislative policy to regulate the right to obtain information, in terms of the substantive and procedural framework of the law regulating the right, as well as with regard to the tools for activating the aforementioned law in terms of control, the possibility of grievance and appeal, as well as the system of crimes and penalties emanating from the law.