The Model Law which was officially launched by outgoing ACHPR chairperson Catherine Dupe Atoki, was drafted by a team of African experts on access to information and freedom of expression under the auspices of the Commission’s Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, Advocate Pansty Tlakula.
The drafting process and consultations with various stakeholders which took about two years to complete, was coordinated by the University of Pretoria’s Centre for Human Rights.
The Model Law is a tool intended to provide benchmarks to all African States towards enactment of effective access to information laws in line with standards set in key instruments such as the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa.
It is also meant to encourage wide adoption of such laws on the continent, as well as their effective implementation .
Post published in: News