Abstract
The RTI-37 project is a study of the state compliance to Section 37 of the Right to Information Act (law number 1/2014) of the Republic of Maldives. Section 37 outlines twelve areas of proactive disclosure by the State. A sample of 73 state institutes were tested for compliance on proactive disclosure through Right To Information (RTI) submissions. The assessment will serve as a tool for strengthening access to information in the island nation which has been experiencing a challenging and tumultuous political journey since its adoption of a democratic constitution in August 2008.
Key words: information, compliance, score, RTI, proactive, disclosure
The assessment of state compliance to Section 37 of the Right to Information Act is part of a project to promote the right of access to information in the Maldives. The Section 37 of the law is assessed particularly due to its primary requirement for state institutes to proactively disclose specific types of information. ADM believes that the compliance rate to a mandatory proactive disclosure will demonstrate the general attitude of the state towards disclosure of information to the public.
The assessment is able to prove its hypotheses that state institutes do not comply with the Section 37 of the RTI Act, and that inadequate awareness of the law contributes towards non-compliance.
The RTI-37 Project is conducted by the Association for Democracy in the Maldives (ADM) in partnership with Accountability Maldives. ADM is a non-governmental organisation focusing on fundamental rights in the Maldives and Accountability Maldives is a citizen-led movement to promote the right to information in the Maldives.