Access to Information in German Law in Comparison to Brazilian Law N° 12.527/201.

Abstract

From the 1970s onwards, a citizen's right to obtain in principle any information available to the state has increasingly become an international democratic standard. The publicness of the state established thereby is an expression of recognition that the people are sovereign and as such entitled to an ongoing control of the exercising of public authority. In addition, the right of access to public information is an effective means to improve a person's knowledge base for his/her personal and professional development and thus to enable the effective use of his/her fundamental rights in a society increasingly based on information. Finally, the publicness of the state is an appropriate and successful tool for preventing state corruption. Our article discusses the present state and development of freedom of information law in Germany with regard to the current legal situation in Brazil.