There is no relationship between the presence of right to information laws and how successfully these laws will actually work in practice, as measured by the WJP Open Government Index 2015.
Realizing the right to information begins with its codification into law. Of the 102 countries surveyed for the WJP Open Government Index 2015, at least 73 have right to information laws on the books. Using the Right to Information Rating, published by the Centre for Law and Democracy, which analyzes and scores the quality of the world’s access to information laws, the scatter plot below compares a country’s right to information legal framework with its performance in practice. The results indicate that while right to information laws may be an important first step, such laws do not suffice in guaranteeing the right to information in practice.
Sources: WJP Open Government Index 2015 (www.worldjusticeproject.org),
Global Right to Information Rating (www.rti-rating.org).