Palestinian government may soon pass transparency law
The Palestinian government in Ramallah is signalling its intent to pass a transparency law, making it potentially the fourth Arab state to do so.
The possibility that Palestine will soon have an access-to-information law is looking promising. Concrete steps by the Palestinian government and a public advocacy campaign are being taken to prepare for such a decision.
Despite the Palestinian Legislative Council being dormant for seven years due to the internal Palestinian split, Ramallah is poised to pass a much improved access-to-information law, a draft of which has recently been circulating in public forums.
The 41-article draft law has received a positive evaluation from the international nongovernmental organization Article 19. The NGO welcomed the draft law and said it has many “positive features,” while suggesting a few changes to bring it into full compliance with international standards and best practices.
Before the council’s suspension, a draft access-to-information law was made available for discussion. But political paralysis put the law on hold until it was recently revived by Palestinian media activists.
