Three Transparencies and the Persistence of Opacity in the Italian Government System

Abstract

In spite of an image as 'opaque' country, Italy has made significant efforts in recent years for affirming its way to transparency. To begin with 1990, Italian lawmakers approved many statutes aiming to make public authorities transparent, meaning open to a widespread control by citizens. This path, though, has not followed an unique and certain way, but has included different ideas of transparency, diverse tools and, finally, has brought about controversial results. The latest novelties with reference to the introduction of the so called 'Italian FOIA' are not out of this context, even if it is logical that a definitive assessment can not be given since its very recent approval. At the end the Italian government system recognizes three instruments: the right of access to documents, the total accessibility associated with the civic access tool and the new widespread civic access, better known as the 'Italian FOIA'. They are valued solutions whose application, though, could fail the final objective because of their scarce familiarity and feasibility.

Response, Awareness and Requester Identity in Foi Law: Evidence from a Field Experiment

“…However, the current landscape is characterized by a proliferation of overlapping and conflicting access rights, encompassing separate legislation governing access requests, proactive disclosure, and open data. A debated question persists regarding whether Italy possesses a complete FOI law (Carloni and Giglioni, 2017). Despite constituting a substantial leap in the Italian transparency regime, the legislative decree 97/2016 does not entirely supplant the two earlier laws, resulting in the coexistence of three forms of access to information.…”

“…Despite constituting a substantial leap in the Italian transparency regime, the legislative decree 97/2016 does not entirely supplant the two earlier laws, resulting in the coexistence of three forms of access to information. This complexity has implications for the enforceability of citizens' right to information, as it poses challenges for common citizens to navigate these multiple avenues (Carloni and Giglioni, 2017). Furthermore, the Italian FOI law lacks some common features found in FOI regimes, such as external review from independent oversight bodies or robust sanctions, significantly weakening the enforcement of the right to information.…”