Methodology

The Global Right to Information Rating (RTI Rating) is a methodology which comparatively assesses the strength of legal frameworks for the right to information from around the world. At the heart of the methodology for applying the RTI Rating are 61 Indicators, each corresponding to a particular feature of a good RTI regime. For each Indicator, countries earn points within a set range of scores (in most cases 0-2), depending on how well the legal framework delivers the Indicator, for a possible total of 150 points. The indicators are divided into seven different categories, namely: Right of Access, Scope, Requesting Procedures, Exceptions and Refusals, Appeals, Sanctions and Protections, and Promotional Measures.

It is important to note that the RTI Rating is limited to measuring the legal framework, and does not measure quality of implementation. In some cases, countries with relatively weak laws may nonetheless be very open, due to positive implementation efforts, while even relatively strong laws cannot ensure openness if they are not implemented properly. Regardless of these outlying cases, experience clearly demonstrates that a strong right to information law is key to advancing openness and to helping those using it to defend and promote the right to information. It is also important to note that, while openness extends to factors beyond the legal framework for RTI, a strong legal framework is an extremely important pre-requisite to full implementation of the right to information.

The first step in the RTI Rating was to develop the Indicators on which the whole Rating methodology is based. The Indicators were developed by analysing a wide range of international standards on the right to information, as well as comparative study of numerous right to information laws from around the world. The next step was to develop a standardised scoring tool for each Indicator, to ensure that the points under each Indicator were allocated consistently across different countries.

 Once the scoring tool had been developed, it was honed in two ways. First, AIE and CLD conducted pilot applications on a number of countries from different regions of the world, adapting the Indicators to address any problems that arose. Second, an Advisory Council was created of renowned experts on the right to information (see below), the role of which was to provide advice to AIE and CLD on the development of the Indicators and rating system.

Following finalisation of the methodology, it has been progressively applied to every country in the world which has in place a binding legal framework for RTI. This work is carried out by researchers at CLD and AIE. To check these assessments, and to be sure that the wider legal context is taken into account, local experts (see list below) are asked to review and comment on the original assessments, and these comments are then integrated into the assessment. In some countries, we were unable to have local reviewers check the assessments and in such cases the assessment may fail to take into account features of the wider legal framework of which we were not aware.

Since the RTI Rating was first launched on Right to Know Day, 2011, CLD and AIE continually update it, adding new countries as new RTI laws are passed. The scoring tool has also been used to assess a variety of international and sub-national RTI frameworks. In the years since the Rating was unveiled, it has been widely cited among global press, and has become recognised as the gold standard for assessing the strength of an RTI framework.

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The Members of the Advisory Council are:

Yaman Akdeniz, Eduardo Bertoni, Mukelani Dimba, Andrea Figari, Katleen Janssen, Alexander Kashumov, Dani Kaufman, Johan Lidberg, Marcos Mendiburu, Venkatesh Nayak, Priscilla Nyokabi, Darian Pavli and Nataša Pirc Musar.
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The list of local experts is as follows:

  • Nargiz Abdraimova, Kyrgyzstan
  • Emmanuel Abdulai, Sierra Leone
  • Zahid Abdullah, Pakistan
  • Ioana Advani, Codru Vrabie, Romania
  • Khaled Saleh al-Anesi, Yemen
  • Ilir Aliaj, Albania
  • Nadejda Alisheva, Kyrgyzstan
  • Juan Pablo Guerrero Amparán, Mexico
  • Linda Austere, Latvia
  • Shamsul Bari, Bangladesh
  • Helena Bengtsson, Sweden
  • Anjali Bhardwaj, India
  • Benoit Boissinot, France
  • Srdjan Blagovcanin, Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Priscila Castello Branco, Brazil, with additional feedback from Renata Alves de Figueiredo
  • Javier Casa, Peru
  • Corina Cepoi, Moldova
  • Jackie Chikakano, Zimbabwe
  • Dance Danilovska–Bajdevska, Macedonia
  • Olga Didenko, Kazakhstan
  • Daniel Dietrich,  Germany
  • Mukelani Dimba, South Africa
  • Anh The Do, Vietnam
  • Shushan Doydoyan, Armenia
  • Agnes Ebo’o, Niger
  • Andrew Ecclestone, New Zealand
  • Ainura Eshenalieva, Kyrgyzstan
  • Said Essoulami, Morocco
  • Francesca Fanucci, Italy
  • Davida Flores, Malta
  • Maurice Frankel, United Kingdom
  • Carolyn Gomes, Jamaica
  • Candy Gonzalez, Belize
  • Klaus Gronenberg, Germany
  • Tamar Gurchiani, Georgia
  • Debebe Hailegebriel, Ethiopia
  • Tivadar Huttl, Hungary
  • Anna Celeste Januario, Angola
  • Malcolm Joseph, Liberia
  • Tamuna Kaldani, Georgia
  • Nozima Kamalova, Uzbekistan
  • Fredrick Hendrick Karanganwa, Rwanda
  • Alexander Kashumov, Bulgaria
  • Yuko Kasuya, Japan
  • Old_ich Ku_ílek, Czech Republic
  • Edison Lanza, Uruguay
  • Paivi Leino-Sandberg, Finland
  • Liisa Leppavirta, Finland
  • Johan Lidberg, Australia
  • Masha Lisitsyna, Kyrgyzstan
  • Maeve McDonagh, Ireland
  • Alasgar Mammadli, Azerbaijan
  • Mariana Mas, Uruguay
  • Andres Mejia, Colombia
  • Thelma Mejia, Honduras
  • Christian Mihr, Germany
  • Nejib Mokni, Tunisia
  • Ruta Mrazauskaite, Lithuania
  • Ricardo Corcuera Molina, Peru
  • Fidan Najafova, Azerbaijan
  • Hashhuu Naranjargal, Mongolia
  • Venkatesh Nayak, India
  • Nemanja Nenadic, Serbia
  • Edetaen Ojo, Nigeria
  • Tetyana Oleksiyuk, Ukraine
  • Prisca Orsonneau, France
  • Ivan Pavlov, Russia
  • Roy Peled, Israel
  • Trung Pham, Vietnam
  • Natasa Pirc, Slovenia
  • Vivian Newman Pont, Colombia
  • Alen Rajko, Croatia
  • Laura Rivera, El Salvador
  • Igor Rozkladaj, Ukraine
  • Sergiu Rusanovschi, Moldova
  • Moíses Sánchez, Chile
  • Sasa Segrt, Croatia
  • Gilbert Sendugwa, Uganda
  • Gavin Sheridan, Ireland
  • Yahia Shukkier, Jordan
  • Santosh Sigdel, Nepal
  • Agus Sudibyo, Indonesia
  • Fuad Suleymanov, Azerbaijan
  • Thomas Susman, United States
  • Chi-Hsun Tsai, Taiwan
  • Sinfah Tunsarawuth, Thailand
  • Begaim Usenova, Kyrgyzstan
  • Dirk Voorhoof, Belgium
  • Roger Vleugels, Netherlands
  • Ben Wei, China
  • Enrico Woolford, Guyana
  • Kyu Ho Youm, South Korea

  • Tatyana Zinovich, Kazakhstan