International Development Law Organization

Access to information: critical for rule of law

Languages: English,  Italian

"Access to legislation and legal information are important tools to accelerate the achievement of some of the targets sets the  2030 Agenda for  Sustainable Development , especially through institutional transparency and accountability toward citizens." These were the words of  Sergio Mattarella , President of the Republic of Italy, written in a letter to participants of a recent event organized by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs ( UNDESA ) and IDLO on April 4, 2016 at the Senate Library in Rome.

The seminar, hosted by the President of the Italian Senate,  Pietro Grasso , focused on the rule of law. Irene Khan and the Head of UNDESA's Rome Office , Gherardo Casini , Transparency, legal awareness and  accessibility .

Law enforcement and law enforcement. General Director: General Director: Khan: "Italy is giving significant attention to the topic of this seminar, which has been approached as an integral part of the follow-up to the 2030 Agenda. Italy's interest and willingness to support the development of the universal dimension of the 2030 Agenda ".


L ' access to ' informazi one  legal as a guarantee of the rule of law

Transparency, knowable and usable rights, laws and jurisprudence within the reach of the citizen, in a few words, the doors of institutions open to all. These were the topics discussed during the seminar "The Italian experience in the field of open access to legislation and legal information", held last April 4 at the Library of the Senate in Rome and organized by the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA).

"Access to legislation and legal information is now an important tool to accelerate the achievement of some of the objectives set in the UN Agenda 2030 for sustainable development, especially in terms of transparency and institutional responsibility towards citizens". These are the words of the President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, in the letter of greeting with which the works were opened.

The meeting, sponsored by the Senate of the Italian Republic, saw the participation of the President of the Senate, Pietro Grasso, of the Director General of IDLO, Irene Khan, and of the Director of the Office for Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations in Rome , Gherardo Casini.

The central theme of the seminar was the knowledge of the law as the foundation and essential assumption of legal certainty.

In the Italian case, the institutions have made their commitment in order not only to guarantee the citizen the opportunity to access the legal rule, so to know their rights, but also to make such legislation usable, therefore clear and understandable, as well as easy to find, as also acknowledged by the Director General of IDLO: "The attention that Italy has placed on this issue - including it in the theme of the follow-up of the Agenda 2030 - and its desire to share its experience and expertise in a matter that would facilitate and encourage the exchange of best practices at international level, is a clear demonstration of the high degree of understanding of the universal dimension of the Agenda itself ".

Along with the principles of accessibility, knowability and usability, we felt the need to combine a fourth principle, that of convergence. To this end it was necessary to develop standards over the years in order to facilitate the citizen in his research and ensure the fundamental principle to guarantee the rule of law which is the principle of transparency.