Access to information and whistleblower protection legislation is a key component to achieving good governance through transparency and accountability in democratic systems.

In Lebanon, neither of these laws currently exist. Efforts within the Lebanese society to pass legislation on access to information date back over 10 years but have yet to be implemented.

Access to Information Draft Law

The Legal Working Group (LWG) of the Network has drafted a law on Access to Information that was submitted to parliament on April 9, 2009, by members of LebPAC Ghassan Moukheiber, Yassine Jaber, Abdallah Hanna, Ismail Sukkarieh and Jawad Boulos.

The LWG used as reference material the "Citizen's Right to Know" draft law that the Office of the Minister of State for Administrative Reform initially prepared in 2001 and subsequently revised in the following years, and submitted to the Council of Ministers in 2006 and again in 2008 for approval.

The current draft law also draws on the Access to information Lebanese legislation Assessment that was developed by H.E. Minister of Interior and Municipalities Ziyad Baroud (prior to his appointment at the Ministry) and Dr. Georgette Salameh from HBD-T Law Firm, as well as the skeleton on Access to Information developed by Dr. Salameh.

To read the draft law in English and Arabic, please download the following documents:

- Draft Law (AR)
- Draft Law (ENG)
- Preamble (AR)
- Preamble (ENG)

What Is Access to Information?

According to the Plain Language Guide developed by Transparency International (TI):

"Access to Information is the right by law - often through freedom of information acts or laws - to access key public facts and data from the government and any public body. Budgets, project approvals and evaluations are typically published although citizens can petition for more."