On 27 September 2023, Ambassador Juan Ignacio MORRO, Permanent Representative of Spain to the Council of Europe, deposited, in the presence of the Deputy Secretary General Bjørn Berge, the instrument of ratification of the Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS No. 205), also known as the Tromsø Convention, bringing the number of ratifications to 15. The treaty will enter into force for Spain on 1 January 2024.
The Tromsø Convention is the first binding international legal instrument to recognise a general right of access to official documents held by public authorities. Transparency of public authorities is a key feature of good governance and an indicator of whether a society is genuinely democratic and pluralist. The right of access to official documents is also essential to the self-development of people and to the exercise of fundamental human rights. It also strengthens public authorities’ legitimacy in the eyes of the public, and its confidence in them.
A Group of Specialists on Access to Official Documents monitors the implementation of the Convention by the States Parties.
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