Last March 30, members of the Supreme Court of Justice and Federal Judiciary Council unanimously issued a ruling that will allow the general public to review court rulings and settlements that are made during the litigation process, and also, among other measures, orders both institutions to place court decisions on the Internet.
The chairman of the Committee on Freedom of the Press and Information, Rafael Molina, and Chapultepec Committee, Sergio Muñoz, sent a letter to the Chief Justice of the Mexican Supreme Court, Mariano Azuela Güitrón, in which they expressed IAPA’s satisfaction that he met his commitment made at the Judicial Conference on Freedom of the Press, held last January in Mexico, where the Chief Justice disclosed that he would push forward a ruling that would allow the maximum openness of information.
Molina, from El Nacional, Dominican Republic, and Muñoz, from the Los Angeles Times, California, also stressed in the letter their confidence that “court officials from throughout the country will consider abiding by these measures adopted by the Supreme Court that orders, among other steps ahead, the release of rulings and settlements in court cases.”
Both believe the new ruling for implementing the law “is a step forward in strengthening democracy and the right of all citizens to receive information.”
Even though the IAPA expressed its approval when Congress passed the Transparency Law in June 2002, it had been questioning its lack of clarity in regards to defining the process in which officials from State branches of government should make information available to public opinion.
The IAPA had reiterated the need for a law on access to public information at a meeting it sponsored in February 2001, in Mexico City. Afterwards, the Oaxaca Group, comprised of journalists and academics, led an initiative that resulted in the passage of the law on transparency and access. Meanwhile, the IAPA had been complaining to President Vicente Fox about the implementation of procedures to facilitate access to public information.
FUENTE: nota.texto7
