Law School Hosts Fourth Annual International Right-to-Know Day Celebration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

WASHINGTON, DC, September 22, 2010 – American University Washington College of Law is proud to present its Fourth Annual International Right-to-Know-Day Celebration on Tuesday, Sept. 28, from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.  The event will convene leaders on international transparency issues and public information, including the transparency director at The Carter Center in Atlanta and the General Counsel of the World Bank.  The event is presented by the Collaboration on Government Secrecy (CGS). 

In a development that barely could have been envisioned by the authors of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) four decades ago, and with a force that has been accelerating around the globe, people in more than 80 nations of the world now enjoy the benefits of government transparency laws akin to the FOIA.

In the United States, “Freedom of Information Day" is celebrated each year on March 16, the birthday of James Madison, and since 2002 members of the international transparency community around the world likewise have celebrated annual “International Right-to-Know Day” on September 28, a day marking their progress and unity.

“We are particularly pleased that World Bank General Counsel Anne-Marie Leroy has agreed to use our program as an initial forum for discussing the operation of the Bank’s brand new worldwide access to information regime,” said Daniel J. Metcalfe, director of CGS. 

Full Schedule:

10:00 a.m. - Welcome and Introduction -- Daniel J. Metcalfe, director, CGS

10:15 a.m. - Keynote Presentation: “Worldwide Transparency in the 21st Century” -- Laura Neuman, associate director for the Americas Program, The Carter Center

11:30 a.m. - Break

11:45 a.m. - Transparency in Scotland as Viewed at the Centre for Freedom of Information -- Professor Janet McLean, Dundee Law School, University of Dundee, Scotland, and Sarah Hutchison, head of Policy and Information, Office of the Scottish Information Commissioner, St. Andrews, Scotland (via video connection)

12:45 p.m. - Lunch

1:45 p.m. - The World Bank’s New Transparency Regime -- Chad Dobson, executive director, Bank Information Center; Anne-Marie Leroy, senior vice president and general counsel, World Bank; and Laura Neuman, The Carter Center

3:00 p.m. - Updated Survey of Transparency Worldwide -- Toby McIntosh, Managing Editor, freedominfo.org, and Steering Committee Coordinator, Global Transparency Initiative; Thomas M. Susman, director of Government Affairs, American Bar Ass’n; and Andrea Stephenson, senior research assistant, CGS

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American University Washington College of Law

In 1896, American University Washington College of Law became the first law school in the country founded by women. More than 100 years since its founding, this law school community is grounded in the values of equality, diversity, and intellectual rigor. The law school’s nationally and internationally recognized programs (in clinical legal education, trial advocacy, international law, and intellectual property to name a few) and dedicated faculty provide its 1700 JD, LL.M., and SJD students with the critical skills and values to have an immediate impact as students and as graduates, in Washington, DC and around the world. For more information, visit wcl.american.edu.