Study shows that Brazilian states and municipalities fall short in access to information

Despite the many advances regarding public transparency that can be seen five years after the Information Access Law passed in the country, the law still falls short in many aspects, especially regarding data from Brazilian state and municipal agencies. This was one of the findings presented by the professor of FGV’s Brazilian School of Public and Business Administration (EBAPE) and coordinator of the Public Transparency Program, Gregory Michener, during the event ‘Five Years of the Information Access Law (LAI) – Advances and Challenges.’

Held on May 16 at FGV’s main office, the meeting was opened by EBAPE’s Deputy Dean, Professor Álvaro Cyrino, celebrating five years of the law that enforced public transparency in Brazil. The debate also featured Federal Ombudsman General Gilberto Waller Junior, who highlighted the importance of social engagement in the access to information, as well as the importance of data transparency for democracy.

CGU-Regional/RJ Superintendent, Fabio Valgas, presented an overview of the five years of LAI. According to the expert, the Brazilian government has served approximately 500,000 information access inquiries, and the average wait time for responses is 14 days - under the 20-day minimum required by the law.

When it comes to official information regarding state and municipal governments, however, not much data is available. Last year, only 14 states and nine state capitals provided statistics on inquiries. Only seven state Public Prosecutor’s Offices and one Court of Law disclosed statistics on the matter. According to Gregory Michener (PTP-FGV coordinator), this data is an important indicator of the enforcement of the act.

Data on applicant profiles is even rarer. Only eight states, three capitals, and three state Public Prosecutor’s Offices made that information public. Michener also stressed the importance of creating and implementing state and municipal agencies to ensure the law is followed, in addition to providing a specific platform to make inquiries across all levels and branches of government.

The other main component relates to the answers of government agencies to inquiries, as well as the quality of such answers. Among the capitals, only one of two inquiries made was answered in a minimally accurate manner. At state level, this same rate is one out of every six inquiries. And in the case of the Judiciary and Public Prosecutor’s Office, one out of three inquiries.

At the end of the debate, moderated by EBAPE professor Fernando Guilherme Tenório, the study ‘Da Opacidade à Transparência? Avaliando os 5 anos da Lei de Acesso à Informação Brasileira’ [From Opacity to Transparency? Assessing 5 Years of the Brazilian Information Access Law] was launched.

The full study is available on the website, in Portuguese.