Fiji RTI Workshop Concept Note Agenda 2024 PDF

Workshop on Right to Information for Fiji Concept Note and Agenda 12-13 December 2024 Attorney-General’s Chambers, Level 9 Conference Room, Suvavou House Concept Note Fiji adopted its Information Act in 2018 but the law has not really co...

Workshop on Right to Information for Fiji Concept Note and Agenda 12-13 December 2024 Attorney-General’s Chambers, Level 9 Conference Room, Suvavou House Concept Note Fiji adopted its Information Act in 2018 but the law has not really come into effect, in part because the Accountability and Transparency Commission, which serves as the oversight body for the law, has not yet been appointed. This now appears to be in progress and hopefully the law will become fully operational once that happens. This workshop by UNESCO in partnership with the Fiji Council of Social services (FCOSS) aims to raise awareness among selected stakeholders – including senior civil servants, information officers, CSOs and media workers – about how the Act works and how to make and process requests for information. The Workshop will mainly be led by RTI expert Toby Mendel, of the Centre for Law and Democracy in Canada. The first substantive session will provide an overview of global and regional trends on RTI and international human rights standards. This will be followed by a presentation from the Attorney General on the Fijian 2018 Information Act, which is Fiji’s RTI law. Toby Mendel will then present the key standards regarding RTI under international law, followed by a presentation on how the Fijian Act measures up against those standards. The second day will feature three “deeper dive” sessions, looking, respectively, at making and processing requests, exceptions, and appeals and oversight. We will then breakout into smaller groups to work on the exercise, which will involve groups analysing a scenario and then presenting their findings back to the plenary session via a role play. In terms of style, the Workshop will involve a mix of presentations, interactive discussions, and question and answer sessions, as well as the role play exercise. The goal is for the Workshop to be participatory and responsive at all times. pg. 1 Agenda Thursday 12 December 2024 08:30 – 08:55 Registration 08:55 – 09:00 Welcome and introduction of Chief Guest Vani Catanasiga, Executive Director Fiji Council of Social Services 09:00 – 09:15 Opening Comments Hon. Graham Leung, Attorney-General of Fiji 09:15 – 09:30 Welcome from UNESCO Marius Lukosiunas, UNESCO Headquarters Section for Universal Access to Information 09:30 – 09:45 Overview of Workshop Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy 09:45 – 10:15 Photo shoot and Tea/Coffee Break 10:15 – 11:30 Introduction to RTI, Global Trends and International Standards Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy Questions and Plenary Discussion 11:30 – 12:30 Overview of Main Features of Strong RTI Systems Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy Questions and Plenary Discussion 12:30 – 13:30 Lunch 13:30 – 14:45 Presentation of Fiji 2018 Information Act Raijeli Tuivaga, Fiji Law Reform Commission Questions and Plenary Discussion 14:45 – 15:15 Presentations by Development Partners Pascaline Krone, International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) and Ashley Bowe, Pacific Community Shailendra Singh, University of the South Pacific Journalism Program 15:15 – 15:45 Tea/Coffee Break 15:45 – 17:00 Review of Fijian Legal Framework for the Right to Information Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy Questions and Plenary Discussion pg. 2 Friday 13 December 2024 09:00 – 09:30 Recap of Day 1 Marius Lukosiunas, UNESCO Discussion 09:30 – 10:15 Deeper Dive into Making and Processing Requests for Information Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy Questions and Plenary Discussion 10:15 – 10:45 Tea/Coffee Break 10:45 – 11:30 Deeper Dive into Assessing Exceptions Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy Questions and Plenary Discussion 11:30 – 12:00 Presentations by Development Partners Vani Catanasiga, Fiji Council of Social Services Marie Pegie Cauchois, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Questions and Plenary Discussion 12:00 – 13:00 Lunch 13:00 – 14:00 Deeper Dive into Appeals and Oversight Toby Mendel, Centre for Law and Democracy Questions and Plenary Discussion 14:00 – 14:30 Summary of interventions on the Fiji 2018 Information Act Raijeli Tuivaga, Fiji Law Reform Commission Questions and Plenary Discussion 14:30 – 16:00 Breakout Group and Role Play Exercise (including Tea/Coffee Break) Work in Breakout Groups (including tea/coffee break) Role Play in Plenary 16:00 – 16:30 Closing Comments Marius Lukosiunas, UNESCO Ropate Green, Solicitor General of Fiji pg. 3 Facilitators Toby Mendel is the founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Law and Democracy, a Canadian-based international human rights NGO which provides legal and capacity building expertise regarding foundational rights for democracy, including the right to information, freedom of expression, the right to participate and the rights to freedom of assembly and association. Prior to that, he was for over 12 years Senior Director for Law at ARTICLE 19, an international human rights NGO focusing on freedom of expression and the right to information. He has collaborated extensively with inter-governmental actors working in these areas – including the World Bank, UNESCO, the UN and other international rapporteurs on freedom of expression, the OSCE and the Council of Europe – as well as numerous governments and NGOs in countries all over the world. Before joining ARTICLE 19, he worked as a senior human rights consultant with Oxfam Canada and as a human rights policy analyst at the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). His work spans a range of areas of legal work. This includes having drafted or participated in drafting numerous laws in countries in every region of the world, engaging in strategic litigation before senior national and international courts, leading standard setting exercises, including the Joint Declarations adopted annually by the freedom of expression rapporteurs, providing training and other forms of capacity building, including to judges and legal professionals, and preparing in-depth analyses of laws and proposed legislation. He is also the author of a large number of articles, monographs and books on a range of freedom of expression, right to information, communication rights and refugee issues, including several books published by UNESCO. Marius Lukošiūnas has worked at UNESCO since 2005. He is currently based at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, where he is responsible for monitoring SDG 16.10.2, which focuses on access to information. He also organizes global events to commemorate the International Day of Universal Access to Information. Prior to his role in Paris, Marius served as the UNESCO Communication and Information Advisor in the Moscow and Cairo offices. His experience with the United Nations includes working as a civil affairs officer in the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) in the early 2000s. Before joining UNESCO, Marius was the Head of the Press Service and a Senior Advisor to Valdas Adamkus, who was the President of the Republic of Lithuania. He also has a background in journalism and journalism education; in the nineties, he served as the Director of the Institute of Journalism at Vilnius University. In 1993, Marius produced and moderated Lithuania's first presidential debate for the Lithuanian National Television company. pg. 4 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) UNESCO’s Communication and Information (CI) Sector champions freedom of expression, media development, media and information literacy, universal access to information, and documentary heritage preservation, leveraging digital technologies to promote peace and sustainable development. Access to Information can be defined as the right to seek, receive and impart information held by public bodies. It is an integral part of the fundamental right of freedom of expression, as recognized by Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), which states that the fundamental right of freedom of expression encompasses the freedom to “to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers”. Fiji Council of Social Services FCOSS is a civil society organisation that strengthens people and communities in Fiji through advocacy and training. It promotes and develops networking and collaboration within the community sector. It treats all people with respect and embraces multi-culturalism. It empowers individuals and communities to contribute to a compassionate, prosperous and just Fiji. FCOSS was set up as a charitable organization in 1957 to provide relief and welfare to the vulnerable and marginalized in Fiji. FCOSS has developed into a national civil society organization building the capacity of CSOs, individuals and communities to foster a better world for those who face disadvantage and poverty. pg. 5