The role of local general comptroller’s offices in complying with the Law of Access to Information by Brazilian municipalities

Abstract

This article, which is of a descriptive and exploratory nature, investigates whether the presence of a General Comptroller’s Office within the organizational structure of Brazilian municipalities has had an impact on promoting local transparency and on monitoring compliance with the Access to Information Law (Lei de Acesso à Informação - LAI). It looks at a sample of 34 Municipal General Comptroller’s Offices, identified by using a virtual search tool. Assuming that municipalities with comptroller’s offices are already in compliance with LAI requirements, this article presents an assessment of the questions and responses provided in formal requests for information addressed to these agencies. When assessing passive  transparency, four different types of request channels were identified: a) specific channels for requesting information (e-SIC), which provide a protocol number for monitoring processing of the request; b) general channels for requesting information (forms or e-mail), which provide a request receipt confirmation message; c) the existence of general channels for requesting information that do not provide a request receipt confirmation message; d) and the total lack of any kind of digital channel for requesting information. There were also four different stages for providing the information requested: a) a reply to the request within 20 days, as recommended by the LAI; b) a reply to the request within the extended period (20 to 30 days); c) a reply after the deadline recommended by the LAI; d) no reply whatsoever. The conclusion was, that at the subnational level, there is an urgent need to improve internal controls in many institutions, in order to boost the culture of transparency and openness provided for by the 1988 Brazilian Federal Constitution (FC) and legislation.