The
Constitution has included a right of access to information
since 1976. Article 268 of the 1989 Constitution states:
1.
Citizens are entitled to be informed by the Public Service,
when they so require, about the progress of proceedings
in which they are directly interested and to know the
final decisions that are taken with respect to them.
2. Citizens shall also enjoy the right to have access
to administrative records and files, subject to the legal
provisions with respect to internal and external security,
investigation of crime and personal privacy.
3. Administrative action shall be notified to interested
parties in the manner prescribed by law; it shall be based
on stated and accessible substantial grounds when it affects
legally protected rights or interests.
4. Interested parties are guaranteed effective protection
of the courts for their legally protected rights or interests,
including recognition of these rights or interests, challenging
any administrative action, regardless of its form, that
affects these, enforcing administrative acts that are
legally due and adopting appropriate protective measures.
5. Citizens are also entitled to object against administrative
regulations that have external validity and that are damaging
to their legally protected rights or interests.
6. For the purposes of paragraphs 1 and 2, the law shall
fix the maximum period within which the Public Service
must respond.(1)
•
Undernourished people (% of total population),
2000/03: N/A
•
Population with sustainable access to an improved
water source (%), 2002: N/A
Source:
UN Development Program, Human Development Reports
Data
The
1993 Law
of Access to Administrative Documents (LADA) allows
any person to demand access to administrative documents
held by state authorities, public institutions, and local
authorities in any form.(2) Requests must
be in writing. Government bodies must respond no later than
10 days after receiving a request.
The
Act does not apply to documents not drawn up for an administrative
activity such as those relating to meetings of the Council
of Ministers and Secretaries of State or personal notes
and sketches. Access to documents in proceedings that are
not decided or in the preparation of a decision can be delayed
until the proceedings are complete or up to one year after
they were prepared. Documents relating to internal or external
security and secrecy of justice are protected under special
legislation. Access to documents with personal information
is limited to the named individual and can only be used
for purposes for which it is authorized. The authority can
refuse access to documents that place commercial, industrial
or company secrets in danger or violate copyrights or patents.
Those
denied can appeal to the Commission
of Access to Administrative Documents (CADA), an independent
Parliamentary agency.(3) The CADA can examine
complaints, provide opinions on access, review practices
and decide on classification of systems. Public employees
have a duty to cooperate with the CADA, or face discipline.
Its decisions are not binding so if an agency continues
to deny access, further appeal can be made to an administrative
court. The CADA received 527 requests for advice (down from
542 in the previous year) and issued 330 opinions in 2004.
Bodies
are required to publish every six month all decisions, circulars,
guidelines and any references for documents that have an
interpretation of enacted laws or administrative procedures.
The
COE GRECO Committee reported some problems with the law
in their 2006 review:
their
right of access is not always effective in practice. Among
the reasons put forward for this on the visit were: i.
the excessive time taken by certain departments to supply
requested information (for example, concerning public
procurement and building permits); and ii. procedural
(occasionally protracted) delays, particularly when the
access commission is required to give a prior opinion,
which can sometimes take up to two months. The Portuguese
authorities have nevertheless indicated that the information
delivery procedures are not normally slow and that the
commission's prior opinion is warranted in certain touchier
cases such as access to documents with personal data identifying
third parties. The GET therefore observes that the Portuguese
authorities should implement a more proactive policy on
access to official documents and review the procedural
constraints that lead to delays (occasionally protracted),
with a view to giving proper effect to individuals' right
of access to official documents.(4)
Portugal
signed the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information in
June 1998 and ratified it in June 2003. The LADA governs
access to environmental information. In 1998, the European
Commission issued a reasoned opinion that Portugal was not
complying with the 1990 EU Directive on Access to Information.
It closed the proceeding in 2000 after Portugal made modifications
to the LADA. The National Assembly approved a new law implementing
the Convention and 2003 EU Directive in April 2006.
A
working group made up of the Ministry of Justice, Ministry
of Economy and Ministry of Finances is developing a bill
to amend the LADA to implement the requirements of the EU
Directive on the re-use and commercial exploitation of public
sector information (2003/98/EC).(5)
The
Law of State Secrecy sets rules on the classification on
information harmful to the state security.(6)
The Commission for the Protection of the State Secret oversees
the Act. Information can be classified for four year periods.(7)
8.
Act nº 67/98 of 26 October 1998 on the Protection
of Personal Data (transposing into the Portuguese legal
system Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and
of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals
with regard to the processing of personal data and on the
free movement of such data). http://www.cnpd.pt/Leis/lei_6798en.htm
1)
Voice and Accountability: 1.31
2) Political Instability and Violence: 1.06
3) Government Effectiveness: 0.92
4) Regulatory Burden: 1.14
5) Rule of Law: 1.16
6) Control of Corruption: 1.23
