On September 14, 2016, the 15-year dispute regarding public access finally ended. The Argentine Congress passed the New Regulation to Access to Public Information decree no. 1172/2003.
Now that the new law has entered into force, anyone is entitled to request and receive from the state complete, adequate, timely and accurate information. On the other hand, the government will have 15 days to provide the requested information, with the possibility to extend the deadline by 15 days, but only once. Among other issues, the law states that if no reply is received in a timely manner, the applicant may claim administrative or judicial instance.
The amended regulation forces the three Powers of Government, the Public Prosecutor, companies, political parties, universities and trade associations that receive public contributions, to respond to requests for information raised by any citizen within a period not exceeding one month.
Among the pluses that the above regulation grants, it is highlighted the simple process proposed and the limited scope of exceptions. In these regards, the law includes information classified as secret, confidential or secret for reasons of defense or foreign policy. Also, any information that could endanger the functioning of the financial system; trade secrets, commercial, financial, scientific disclosure could harm the level of competitiveness.
The law also regulates the creation of an "Agency for Access to Public Information," autonomous body that will work within the Executive Power , as well as, it also empowers the three powers to institute its own agency, whose operation should be according to the aforementioned Agency.
The enactment of this new regulation is an important step for Argentina in the field of access to public information. Argentina was, along with Bolivia, Cuba and Venezuela, one of the only countries in the region without a law on access to public information. In this connection, the Minister of Modernization, Andrés Ibarra said: "Today Argentina is located at position 54 in the world in terms of opening up public data. Access to information is a right, but our goal is to be one of the 10 most transparent countries in the world. "
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