On August 30, the Senate Government Committee put on the agenda for the first time the bill presented by the Executive Branch that updates and expands the scope of the 2008 Access to Public Information Law. The initiative, which entered the Congress 10 years after the enactment of this law, was approved by the Chamber of Deputies on March 3, 2020.

If finally approved, it will extend the scope of application of the Transparency Law to municipal corporations and associations and will establish the implementation of an active transparency statute for trade associations. It also contemplates the strengthening of the role of the Ministry General Secretariat of the Presidency and the Ministry of Justice and Human Rights, the creation of a State Transparency Portal and Transparency Directorates in the public bodies obliged by the duty to inform. In addition, it incorporates new obligations of active transparency such as the publication of the remuneration of civil servants, among other things.

At the procedural level, the bill authorizes that notifications be made electronically; it establishes a maximum term of five working days to derive a request for access to information and modifies the term for the resolution of appeals for protection.

The proposal must be analyzed and approved by the Government, Decentralization and Regionalization Committee of the Senate, before passing to the plenary for a vote.