Origin and Scope of the Right of Access to Information
The right of access to information is a paradox in that it is both old and new. It is old because access to information was first codified into law, 256 years ago, in 1766 in Sweden. The Swedish Parliament enacted the Freedom of the Press Act which contained provisions on access to official documents. Those provisions allowed the public to gain access to documents that were in the government’s possession in order to liven public debate. The idea behind the law was this: if the public were to engage in constructive debate on the actions or omissions of the King, then they needed access to official documents in order to see how the state was run.
