Excerpts of the presentation by RTI Commissioner and attorney-at-law Kishali Pinto-Jayawardena at the Leaders Roundtable Sessions on the Role of Accountability Institutions held at the Asia Pacific Leaders Forum on Open Government convened by the Governme
It has been close to nine months since the Right to Information Commission of Sri Lanka commenced hearing appeals under the RTI Act, No 12 of 2016. The Act was operationalised on February 3, 2017 and the first appeal came before us in late April 2017. Since then, it is evident that the thirst for information has had no boundaries and no barriers, class, community or race as the case may be.
Appellants include farmers seeking information on the issuance of land permits from distant regions of the Mahaweli Zone, northern residents looking for environmental approvals regarding projects that threaten the livelihoods of war affected communities, disabled soldiers asking for information to obtain their disability benefits, patients requesting medical reports and parents demanding details of school admissions of children. Civil society groups and journalists have also petitioned for the release of information that challenges state accountability at the highest levels.
Only in the rarest of cases have lawyers been retained by the appellants to plead their cause. In most instances, the appellants appear in person. This is welcome as it points to the demystifying of the law in the search for justice. For a conflict-torn country which has seen its systems degenerate, its institutions break down and its law become relegated to empty theory, this is a sign of hope.
As the year closes, the commission has listed more than two hundred appeals before it for hearing out of an approximately estimated five hundred and fifty appeals. It has issued several orders in concluded or pending cases leading to the release of information on procurement related issues and public sector transparency, the accountability of politicians as well as information on the observance of due process safeguards by state entities. One notable example was the release of documentation relating to court martial proceedings by the Sri Lanka Army. Up to now, the adherence of public authorities to these orders issued by the Commission strictly in terms of the RTI Act has been largely and quite overwhelmingly positive.
Using RTI to reform the governance process