Freedom of Information Law: 4 years
Seminar to discuss transparency in the Judiciary and limits on secrecy in public security
Four years after the introduction of Brazil’s Freedom of Information Law, what is civil society’s assessment of the enforcement of the law by the Judiciary, which is considered the least transparent of the three branches? How can maneuvers to impede access to public security data be avoided, such as the secrecy imposed in São Paulo on police reports?
These are the two main questions on the agenda at the event “Paths to Transparency: challenges and good practices in the implementation of the FOI law”, a public seminar to be staged by Abraji (Brazilian Association of Investigative Journalism), Article 19, Conectas Human Rights and Transparency Brazil on May 12 in the Maria Antônia Auditorium in São Paulo.
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The first panel “The application of the FOI law by the Judiciary” will have the presence of Joara Marchezini, projects officer from the freedom of information department of Article 19, who will present a new report compiled after monitoring the implementation of the FOI law in Brazil’s State Courts. To complete the debate, André Augusto Salvador Bezerra, president of the Executive Board of AJD (Association of Judges for Democracy), will provide an analysis of how the ideological policing of judges causes the Judiciary to be even less transparent.
In the second panel “Transparency: good practices and the limits of secrecy in public security”, Alberto Kopittke, Municipal Public Security Secretary of Canoas (in the state of Rio Grande do Sul) and member of the Brazilian Public Security Forum, will share the experience of his municipality, which is considered a reference in transparency and non-violent policies applied to security. Kopittke also runs the project “Map of Security in Brazil”, which proposes to improve the transparency of Public Security Departments and the Civil and Military Police in all Brazilian states.
The panel will also feature Rafael Custódio, coordinator of the Justice program at Conectas, who will discuss the recent move by the São Paulo government to reclassify as secret all documents of the Civil and Military Police and its own public security department, thereby restricting access to information.
EVENT:
Seminar: Paths To Transparency: challenges and good practices in the implementation of the FOI law
Date: May 12, from 9 am to 12 noon
Location: Maria Antônia Auditorium. Rua Maria Antônia, 294 – Vila Buarque – São Paulo
PROGRAM
9 am – 10:30 am | The application of the FOI law by the Judiciary
Andre Augusto Salvador Bezerra (AJD – Association of Judges for Democracy), Joara Marchezini (Article 19) – Moderator: Marina Atoji (Abraji)
10:30 am – 10:40 am | Coffee break
10:40 am – 12 noon | Transparency: good practices and the limits of secrecy in public security
Guilherme Siqueira de Carvalho (São Paulo State Ombudsman’s Office), Rafael Custódio (Conectas Human Rights) – Moderator: Juliana Sakai (Transparency Brazil)
