39 Chartwell Lane
Halifax, N.S.
B3M 3S7
Canada
Open Government Partnership
Civil Society Selection Committee
13 June 2014
Dear Selection Committee:
Please accept this as my nomination letter for a position as a civil society representative on the OGP Steering Committee.
In terms of my interest in serving on the Steering Committee, as a long-standing international human rights lawyer and activist, I believe I would bring an important set of skills and experience to the position. It is important for the Steering Committee to have expertise in the thematic areas in which I am strongest – freedom of expression (FOE) and the right to information (RTI) – and for this reason leading individuals working in these areas petitioned me to apply for this position. At a more personal level, as a leading forum for promoting positive democratic change, I am sure it would be very exciting to participate in the OGP through the Steering Committee.
I am probably best known for my policy expertise, which I count both as part of my experience and as part of my track record in terms of global leadership. One of my particular policy skills is being able to come up with imaginative policy solutions which are acceptable to a range of stakeholders, often including officials and civil society. I believe the quality of my work in this area and more generally is reflected in the fact that my expertise is regularly sought after by a large number of IGOs working in the area of freedom of expression, both global and regional, and my membership of the Access to Information External Review Panel of the Inter-American Development Bank.
Perhaps my most high-profile policy work is as lead drafter of the annual Joint Declarations by the special international mandates on freedom of expression at the UN, OSCE, OAS and African Commission, which explore different freedom of expression themes each year (the most recent are on universality, the digital transition, crimes against freedom of expression and the Internet). In addition to the Joint Declarations, I have drafted a number of leading NGO policy statements, including The Public’s Right to Know, Defining Defamation, Access to the Airwaves, the Transparency Charter for International Financial Institutions, the Camden Principles and the Model Freedom of Information and Public Service Broadcasting Laws, and provided significant input into other statements, such as the African Commission’s Declaration on Principles of Freedom of Expression in Africa, the Inter-American Juridical Committee’s Principles on the Right of Access to Information, and the UNESCO-led African Charter on Broadcasting.
Collectively, these policy statements have impacted on law and practice in numerous countries, as well as internationally. As an early and consistent supporter of RTI as an internationally protected human right, including through these policy statements, I claim some influence in the global success of this advocacy programme.
I also have extensive legal experience in promoting human rights. I have analysed numerous laws impacting on democratic rights – including the right to information, freedom of expression (defamation, broadcasting, whistleblowing, Internet freedom), freedom of association and privacy – all core OGP areas (see for a list of laws analysed by the Centre for Law and Democracy, all of which I have written or reviewed). My work also includes very extensive experience working with both governments and civil society to draft laws. Over the last year, I have supported legislative drafting in the following countries: Afghanistan (RTI legislation); Egypt (RTI legislation); Mongolia (broadcasting legislation); Morocco (RTI legislation); Myanmar (laws on the press, broadcasting and public service media); Pakistan (RTI legislation); and Tunisia (RTI legislation).
As the previous paragraph suggests, one of my strengths is my ability to work well with both governments and civil society groups, even on relatively contested issues like FOE and RTI. I have broad experience working with government officials, including at a very high level, while my own base is in civil society. Even in countries with complex government-civil society relationships, I have managed to preserve my credibility and a strong commitment to human rights principles while maintaining working relationships with both communities.
Although I come from a developed country, I bring a wider perspective to my work, and I am often seen by my colleagues as bridging the developed-developing world divide. This is based in part on my professional experience in every region of the world, but also importantly on my personal situation and simply my outlook and attitude.
The breadth of my work experience means that I have very strong network of contacts from all around the world, something which would be a particular asset to the OGP. This is reflected in my involvement in a number of networks and global initiatives, including the Freedom of Information Advocates Network (FOIAnet), of which I am presently the elected Chair.
I have engaged strongly with the OGP since it was founded both personally and through the organisation I founded 5 years ago, the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD). I am a member of the Canadian Government’s OGP Advisory Panel, and I have supported Canadian engagement with the OGP in many ways (among other things by serving as the civil society commentator on the first Canadian Action Plan at the Brasilia Summit in April 2012, by providing a detailed parallel report on the implementation of that Action Plan and by working with government to design a consultation plan for the second Action Plan). Through CLD, I have also engaged with the OGP at the international level, co-authoring three major reports (the Right to Information chapter of the Open Government Guide, a report on RTI in OGP Action Plans, and a set of Guidelines for Assessing OGP Action Plans), attending both Summits and planning a session at the London Summit, providing extensive inputs into the OGP’s own openness policy and participating in awareness-raising and capacity building exercises.
Yours truly,
Toby Mendel