The Montreal Declaration on Free Access to Law (MDFAL) of 2002: A Weak Reed for Global Realization of the Right to Access Legal Information

Abstract

The beginning of 2000 witnessed emergence of global campaigns for realization of the right to access legal information. The campaigns were initiated by activists of the Free Access to Law Movements (FALM). In order to make the campaigns more formal the FALM drafted the Montreal Declaration on Free Access to Law (MDFAL) of 2002. Although the principles of the MDFAL of 2002 are good it suffers from a sort of ‘birth defect’ problems, one of which being the fact that the MDFAL of 2002 is not in the realm of international law. One can only assume that if the MDFAL of 2002 was in the realm of international law, realization of its principles would be more realistic than it is now. The aim of this article is to provide a critique of the MDFAL of 2002 which makes realization of the right to access legal information illusive.

Keywords: Free Access to Legal Information, Legal information, Legal information  institutes, Montreal Declaration on Free Access to Law

DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/105-09

Publication date: January 31^st 2021