ParlAmericas participates in the International Seminar on Constitutional Justice and Open Parliament hosted by the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (INAI) of Mexico
The International Seminar on Constitutional Justice and Open Parliament was held on Monday, December 7 and Tuesday, December 8 by the National Institute for Transparency, Access to Information and Personal Data Protection (INAI) of Mexico with the participation of Member of the National Assembly Elizabeth Cabezas (Ecuador), the immediate past president of ParlAmericas. The seminar assessed progress made in terms of justice and open parliament in Mexico and included the participation of national and international panelists representing judicial and legislative institutions, public institutions, civil society organizations, and academia.
Keynote addresses and panels held on December 7 included a panel on ‘The Institutionalization of Open Parliament in Latin America,’ moderated by Commissioner Blanca Lilia Ibarra Cadena of INAI, which focused on exploring various perspectives on open parliament and how related practices have been improved across the region, as well as the region’s long-standing challenges. On this topic, Member of the National Assembly Cabezas stated, “At ParlAmericas, we’ve been able to incorporate an open parliament policy in many countries (…) As former president of the National Assembly, I promoted significant changes in the Organic Law of the Legislative Function to ensure that our open parliament policy wouldn’t depend on personal or individual initiatives by legislative leaders, but constitute a mandatory framework and system for the way things are done.” Senator Mónica Fernández (Mexico), president of the Governance Committee and the Technical Committee of the Legislative Transparency and Open Parliament Observatory, highlighted recent efforts within the Senate to promote concrete action and proposals based on a diagnosis presented by the Autonomous University of Mexico as part of the Technical Committee’s work. In this regard, Ms. Mercedes de los Santos, Director of Citizenry & Government Institutions for Directorio Legislativo Foundation, noted that parliaments are capable of ensuring that a diversity of voices are represented in the elaboration of public policy—an especially important factor within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lastly, Professor Guillermo Cejudo Ramírez of the Centre for Economic Research and Teaching of Mexico stressed the importance of focusing on substantial open parliament initiatives addressing not only transparency, but also forums for public deliberation and legislators working toward these goals in a proactive search for stakeholders whose voices are not being heard.
For further information on the work carried out by ParlAmericas, visit www.parlamericas.org and follow @ParlAmericas on social media.
