| Sierra Leone: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Public Access to Information | ||
| Indicators | Score | |
| 12 | Do citizens have a legal right of access to information? | 0 |
| 13 | Is the right of access to information effective? | 15 |
Indicator and sub-Indicator Details
| 12 | Do citizens have a legal right of access to information? | |||||||
| 12a: In law, citizens have a right of access to government information and basic government records. | ||||||||
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Comments: Though no law gives citizens the formal right to access government documents, recent legislation -- the Local Government Act and The Public Procurement Act -- makes provisions for citizens' access to documents related to those processes. References: There is are no laws that generally give citizens the right to access government records.
Peer Review Comments: According to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices ([ LINK ]) "There is no provision in the law for public access to government information; however, the government at times provided access to both citizens and noncitizens, including foreign media," as a result of the relatively democratic dispensation, which is also good public relations for the government.
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| 12b: In law, citizens have a right of appeal if access to a basic government record is denied. | ||||||||
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Comments: References: No such laws exist.
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| 12c: In law, there is an established institutional mechanism through which citizens can request government records. | ||||||||
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Comments: References: No such overarching mechanism exists
Peer Review Comments: There is no established institutional mechanism through which citizens can request government records. The process is not centralized. Citizens can, however, make specific requests for government records to the various departments of the government, and departments at times provide access to both citizens and noncitizens, including the foreign media.
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| 13 | Is the right of access to information effective? | |||||||
| 13a: In practice, citizens receive responses to access to information requests within a reasonable time period. | ||||||||
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Comments: References: Valnora Edwin, Coordinator, Campaign for Good Governance, September 5, 2004 Ensah Bockarie, Civil Society Movement, September 4, 2004
Peer Review Comments: Since there is no established institutional mechanism through which citizens can request government records, responses to access to information requests are simply at the discretion of the department in question. At times information is made available sooner, but politically sensitive material is often almost impossible to access.
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| 13b: In practice, citizens can use the access to information mechanism at a reasonable cost. | ||||||||
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Comments: References: Valnora Edwin, Campaign for Good Governance
Peer Review Comments: Generally, government fees for services such as the purchase of government records are quite reasonable. It is the extortion money paid to the officers responsible for making the information or records available in order to expedite the process that ends up making the cost unreasonable.
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| 13c: In practice, citizens can resolve appeals to access to information requests within a reasonable time period. | ||||||||
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Comments: No appeal process exists if information is not granted. References: Valnora Edwin, Coordinator, Campaign for Good Governance, September 5, 2004 Ensah Bockarie, Civil Society Movement, September 4, 2004
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| 13d: In practice, citizens can resolve appeals to information requests at a reasonable cost. | ||||||||
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Comments: No appeal process exists. References: Valnora Edwin, Coordinator, Campaign for Good Governance, September 5, 2004 Ensah Bockarie, Civil Society Movement, September 4, 2004
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| 13e: In practice, the government gives reasons for denying an information request. | ||||||||
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Comments: The general reasons given by civil servant is that the official secrecy codes do not allow disclosure of government information. References: Valnora Edwin, Coordinator, Campaign for Good Governance, September 5, 2004 Ensah Bockarie, Civil Society Movement, September 4, 2004
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