# Right to information URL: https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/right-to-information Type: Priority topic Published: 2020-03-18 Updated: 2026-09-25 --- ![Women holding a sign at a protest that says "We will not be silenced".](https://images.transparencycdn.org/images/michelle-ding-LXUR8IWa0i0-unsplash.jpg?auto=compress&fit=crop&fm=webp&w=1200) Photo: Michelle Ding / unsplash.com Access to information gives you the right by law to access facts and data concerning the exercise of any public authority, as well as on the use of any public funds. It often occurs through Right to Information laws (ROI). With Right to Information laws, you will be legally allowed to obtain any and all information and documents from the government or other relevant organisations. ## How does right to information affect you? Right to information is not only a human right, but an essential tool that empowers you to demand accountability from governments, participate in public life and to fight corruption through knowledge. Right to information provides essential facts that benefit your life in a number of ways from human rights to environmental justice. For example, when human rights violations or major corruption cases occur, you can find out more about the wrongdoings, trigger investigations and eventually prosecute the corrupt because of information gained with the help of ROI. If you want to measure your governments’ CO2 emissions and track its progress toward climate goals, you can do so because of ROI. In general, it is more difficult to hide abuses of power and other illegal activities when citizens like you can access key facts and data from governments. Right now, around 140 countries have Right to Information Acts, but the acts vary in strength. ## What needs to be done? Many existing Right to Information laws do not meet international standards, and are not properly implemented and publicized. Even strong laws can be ineffective if the officials providing information are undertrained, too few or supporting a culture of secrecy. Governments and parliaments should draft and pass Right to Information laws that comply with international standards. Governments, civil society and journalists should proactively inform people about access to information laws and encourage their use. ## What we're doing While laws are incredibly important in improving people’s access to information in countries around the world, they’re only part of a bigger picture of right to information. ### Advocacy We are actively engaged in mobilizing for strong Right to Information laws on international and national levels. Our International advocacy: The [Open Government Partnership (OGP)](https://www.opengovpartnership.org/) is, currently, the most important international forum for Right to Information. We are working with the OGP to ensure that it includes ambitious reforms to improve governments’ capacity to prevent, detect, and sanction corruption in the OGP’s national action plans. We are also actively engaged at the United Nations Convention against Corruption’s Conference of State Parties (CoSP), our world’s most comprehensive international convention against corruption, to ensure the right to information is respected and protected concerning corruption-related information. Our national advocacy: Our 100+ national chapters around the world are constantly pushing for Right to Information laws adoption, improvement of already existing laws and for proper implementation of laws. We have also worked extensively to advocate for more Right to Information laws in the Asia Pacific region and MENA Right to Information laws. ### Training Our national chapters frequently train public officials, non-governmental organisations (NGO) and journalists about how to use ROI to access documents and information. Whether assisting with requesting information, reacting to a refusal by authorities to appeal refusals in court, our Advocacy and Legal Advise Centres in about 60 countries help ensure you are armed with the information you need to better understand your government’s actions and make a difference in tackling corruption. ### Monitoring Most of our 100+ national chapters monitor national ROI laws and how well they are function. As part of our monitoring work, we prepare reports on ROI like the one on [11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/right-to-information-in-asia-pacific) or following the Arab Spring in the [Middle East and North Africa region](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/keeping-your-government-honest-access-to-information-in-the-middle-east-and). ### Litigation When governments do not respect right to information and fail to reply to information requests, our Advocacy and Legal Advice Centres advise and occasionally litigate on behalf of citizens, journalists, organisations. Our ALACs also pursue their own investigations that can lead to holding wrongdoers accountable and remedies for victims. ### Awareness raising Each law is only as good as the extent to which people use it, therefore we raise awareness of citizens of their right of access to information. ## Find out more about our work ### News [+ More](https://www.transparency.org/en/search/filter?priority=right-to-information&type=newsPost) ## [COP Talks: Formal Delegations, Informal Access](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/cop30-formal-delegations-informal-access) News • 14 September 2026 Our analysis of EU delegations found 63 fossil fuel-linked representatives accredited through nine EU Member States at COP30, raising concerns over transparency and influence in… ## [Financial intelligence units: Powerful tools against corruption if governments let them work](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/financial-intelligence-units-powerful-tools-against-corruption) News • 24 June 2026 Financial intelligence units can help expose corrupt money flows – but only if governments give them the powers, access and independence to do the job. ## [Panama Papers: 10 years on, the promises and the failures](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/panama-papers-10-years) News • 02 April 2026 The Panama Papers exposed financial secrecy and corruption worldwide. A decade later, Transparency International assesses what has changed and what hasn't. ## [The high costs journalists pay when reporting on corruption](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/the-high-costs-journalists-pay-when-reporting-on-corruption) News • 04 May 2020 ### Publications [+ More](https://www.transparency.org/en/search/filter?priority=right-to-information&type=publication) ## [Regional Assessment of Integrity in Political Finance in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/integrity-political-finance-asia) Publication • 03 September 2026 This report reviews systems across 17 countries to identify the areas of political finance most in need of reform. ## [Strengthening Public Oversight: Good practices for partnerships between civil society and supreme audit institutions](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/strengthening-public-oversight-good-practices-for-partnerships-between-civil-society-and-supreme-audit-institutions) Publication • 29 May 2026 Stronger collaboration between Supreme Audit Institutions and Civil Society Organisations is needed for better public financial oversight. ## [Public debt confidentiality: Separating fact from fiction](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/public-debt-confidentiality-separating-fact-from-fiction) Publication • 15 December 2025 Citizens have a right to know about their country's debt because public debt is the public's debt. ## [Global Corruption Barometer: Middle East and North Africa 2019 - Citizens' Views and Opinions of Corruption](https://www.transparency.org/en/publications/global-corruption-barometer-middle-east-and-north-africa-2019) Publication • 11 December 2019 People have been voicing their anger at the corruption they see and experience in their daily lives: from the highest levels of government to accessing basic public services. ### Projects [+ More](https://www.transparency.org/en/search/filter?priority=right-to-information&type=project) ## [Accountability in Asia Pacific](https://www.transparency.org/en/projects/accountability-in-asia-pacific) Project ## [Open governance: Helping citizens engage with government](https://www.transparency.org/en/projects/open-governance-helping-citizens-engage-with-government) Project Features information and analyses of open governance initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa, South East Asia, Eastern and Central Europe, and South America. ## [Sharaka: Corruption in the Middle East](https://www.transparency.org/en/projects/sharaka-corruption-in-the-middle-east) Project ## [Countering corruption amid COVID-19](https://www.transparency.org/en/projects/countering-corruption-amid-covid-19) Project We’re working to identify COVID-19 specific corruption risks and vulnerabilities and address concrete instances of suspected corruption. ### Blog posts [+ More](https://www.transparency.org/en/search/filter?priority=right-to-information&type=blogPost) [## How citizens in Asia Pacific are using information to fight corruption Transparency Int'l 27 October 2025](https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/how-citizens-in-asia-pacific-are-using-information-to-fight-corruption "How citizens in Asia Pacific are using information to fight corruption") [## Climate Accountability: Beyond Transparency & Public Participation Anoukh de Soysa 09 October 2025](https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/going-beyond-transparency-and-public-participation-in-climate-initiatives "Climate Accountability: Beyond Transparency & Public Participation") [## Strengthening Public Oversight in Climate Initiatives Anoukh de Soysa 24 July 2025](https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/strengthening-public-oversight-in-climate-initiatives "Strengthening Public Oversight in Climate Initiatives") [## Power to the people: Open data solutions to government opacity during COVID-19 Transparency Int'l 27 September 2022](https://www.transparency.org/en/blog/open-data-covid-19-argentina-hungary-honduras "Power to the people: Open data solutions to government opacity during COVID-19") ### Press releases [+ More](https://www.transparency.org/en/search/filter?priority=right-to-information&type=pressRelease) ## [New transparency bill would ensure U.S. government discloses recipients of $600 billion bailout](https://www.transparency.org/en/press/harris-introduces-legislation-to-require-transparency-of-small-business-loans-amid-covid-19-crisis) Press • 26 June 2020 ## [Police persecution of journalists and anti-corruption activists in Myanmar must stop](https://www.transparency.org/en/press/police-persecution-of-journalists-and-anti-corruption-activists-in-myanmar-must-stop) Press • 14 April 2020 ## [Montenegro: Public debate on access to information law must be delayed](https://www.transparency.org/en/press/montenegro-public-debate-on-access-to-information-law-must-be-delayed) Press • 31 March 2020 ## [Government of Portugal urged to stop withholding public information on golden visas](https://www.transparency.org/en/press/portuguese-government-must-stop-withholding-information-on-golden-visas) Press • 10 January 2019 ## Explore all priorities - [Asset recovery and the theft of public money](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/asset-recovery-and-the-theft-of-public-money) - [Business integrity](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/business-and-corruption) - [Climate crisis](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/climate-crisis) - [Defence and security](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/defence-and-security) - [Dirty money](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/dirty-money) - [Extractive industries](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/extractive-industries) - [Foreign bribery enforcement](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/foreign-bribery-enforcement) - [Gender](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/gender-and-corruption) - [Grand corruption](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/grand-corruption) - [Health](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/health-and-corruption) - [Judiciary and law enforcement](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/judiciary-and-law-enforcement) - [Land corruption](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/land-corruption) - [Political integrity](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/political-integrity) - [Public procurement](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/public-procurement) - [Right to information](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/right-to-information) - [Sustainable Development Goals](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/sustainable-development-goals) - [Whistleblowing](https://www.transparency.org/en/our-priorities/whistleblowing) Asset recovery and the theft of public money Business integrity Climate crisis Defence and security Dirty money Extractive industries Foreign bribery enforcement Gender Grand corruption Health Judiciary and law enforcement Land corruption Political integrity Public procurement Right to information Sustainable Development Goals Whistleblowing