Transparency Law Data Sources
Primary sources for the law.ungovr.org transparency law database
The law.ungovr.org database measures transparency law quality — what statutes require governments to disclose — not whether individual entities comply. Laws are coded from primary sources (legislation and official regulations) and cross-checked against authoritative international assessments. See the FACTS methodology for scoring details.
Open Records / Freedom of Information Laws
371 laws covering 140+ national governments and subnational levels across India (30 states), Mexico (32 states), Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Argentina, and Australia — plus all 52 US jurisdictions.
| Source | URL | Data Provided |
|---|---|---|
| RTI Rating (Access Info / CLD) | rti-rating.org | Global Right to Information Rating: scored assessment of 140+ national FOI/RTI laws across 61 structural and content indicators — response deadlines, exemption limits, appeal rights, and proactive disclosure requirements. Published by Access Info Europe and the Centre for Law and Democracy. The primary global benchmark used to calibrate coverage and identify gaps. |
| National Legislative Portals | Country-specific | Primary text of national FOI/RTI statutes researched directly from official government legislative databases (e.g., legislation.gov.uk, legifrance.gouv.fr, gesetze-im-internet.de, fedlex.admin.ch, legislation.govt.nz, etc.) for 140+ countries. |
| Open Government Partnership (OGP) Country Profiles | opengovpartnership.org | OGP action plan commitments and country profiles used to identify FOI reform timelines, proactive disclosure commitments, and verify legislative references for the 75+ OGP member countries. |
| India RTI Act (2005) and State Rules | rti.gov.in | Central Right to Information Act plus information commission rules for 30 Indian states and Union Territories. Covers response deadlines, first and second appeal mechanisms, and fee schedules. |
| INAI (Mexico) | inai.org.mx | Mexico's national Transparency Law (Ley General de Transparencia) plus 32 state-level freedom of information laws. Administered by the Instituto Nacional de Transparencia, Acceso a la Información y Protección de Datos Personales. |
| RCFP Open Government Guide | rcfp.org | Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — state-by-state US open records law summaries covering exemption categories, response timelines, and procedural rules for all 50 states. |
| State Attorney General Resources (US) | State-specific | Official AG open records guidance documents for all 50 US states, used to verify exemption categories, response deadlines, and fee structures. |
Open Meetings / Sunshine Laws
432 laws covering 90+ national governments spanning every region — including Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe — plus all 52 US jurisdictions.
| Source | URL | Data Provided |
|---|---|---|
| National Parliamentary and Legislative Portals | Country-specific | Primary legislation for open meetings laws in 90+ countries researched directly from official national legislative databases. Covers agenda notice requirements, quorum rules, closed session categories, public comment rights, minutes obligations, and remote participation provisions. |
| Open Government Partnership (OGP) Country Profiles | opengovpartnership.org | OGP action plans used to identify meeting transparency reforms, legislative commitments, and verify statutory references for OGP member countries. |
| RCFP Open Government Guide (US) | rcfp.org | Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press — sunshine law summaries for all 50 US states: notice periods, closed session categories, recording rights, and enforcement mechanisms. |
| US State Legislative Portals | State-specific | Primary text of all 50 US state open meetings acts from official state legislature websites. Covers agenda notice periods, public comment rules, remote participation provisions, and minutes requirements. |
| Government in the Sunshine Act (US federal) | law.cornell.edu | 5 U.S.C. § 552b (1976) — governs open meeting requirements for multi-headed US federal agencies. Covers notice requirements, closed session categories, and transcript rules. |
Fiscal Transparency Laws
227 laws covering 90+ national governments — scored across budget publication, expenditure disclosure, independent audit, debt reporting, and compensation disclosure — plus all 52 US jurisdictions.
| Source | URL | Data Provided |
|---|---|---|
| Open Budget Survey (IBP) | internationalbudget.org | International Budget Partnership's biennial assessment of budget transparency in 120+ countries. The primary global benchmark for fiscal law quality — used to calibrate scoring and identify statutory gaps. Rounds published 2006–2023. |
| PEFA Assessments | pefa.org | Public Expenditure and Financial Accountability assessments (World Bank-hosted) covering budget credibility, transparency, accounting, and external audit for 150+ countries. Used for validation and cross-country scoring calibration. |
| IMF Fiscal Transparency Evaluations | imf.org | IMF fiscal transparency reports and country assessments covering audit independence, debt disclosure frameworks, and reporting deadlines across member countries. |
| INTOSAI Standards (ISSAIs) | intosai.org | International Standards of Supreme Audit Institutions — audit independence, scope, and reporting standards used to assess the statutory mandate and independence level of each country's supreme audit institution. |
| National Budget and Finance Acts | Country-specific | Primary text of national budget acts, public finance management acts, and audit statutes researched from official legislative databases for each covered country. These are the definitive source for each jurisdiction's statutory obligations. |
| EU Fiscal Compact and Two-Pack (Eurozone) | eur-lex.europa.eu | Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance (TSCG) and EU Regulation 473/2013 — supranational fiscal reporting requirements for all 20 Eurozone member states, layered on top of national statutes. |
| WAEMU Directives (West Africa) | uemoa.int | West African Economic and Monetary Union public finance management directives — regional fiscal transparency requirements applicable to 8 francophone West African member states. |
| GASB Standards (US) | gasb.org | Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB 34/68/75/87) — accounting standards that define minimum financial reporting requirements for US state and local governments. Used as the universal baseline for all 50 US state fiscal law entries. |
| Single Audit Act (US federal) | law.cornell.edu | 31 U.S.C. §§ 7501–7507 — US federal audit requirements for entities expending federal awards, combined with OMB Circular A-133 requirements. |
Oversight Bodies and Ethics Laws
562 records covering supreme audit institutions, ombudsmen, anti-corruption commissions, ethics offices, and inspector general frameworks for 62 countries and all 52 US jurisdictions.
| Source | URL | Data Provided |
|---|---|---|
| INTOSAI Membership Directory | intosai.org | Directory of 195 national supreme audit institutions (SAIs) covering mandate, independence status, and regional organization membership (AFROSAI-E, ARABOSAI, ASOSAI, CAROSAI, EUROSAI, OLACEFS, PASAI). The primary global reference for SAI statutory coverage. |
| National Legislative Portals | Country-specific | Audit acts, ombudsman acts, anti-corruption commission statutes, and ethics legislation researched from official government legislative databases for 62 countries. Cross-checked against INTOSAI membership data and OGP country profiles. |
| AFROSAI-E | afrosai-e.org.za | African Organization of English-speaking Supreme Audit Institutions — member country profiles and SAI Performance Measurement Framework (SAI PMF) scores used to supplement statutory data for African SAIs. |
| Open Government Partnership (OGP) | opengovpartnership.org | OGP country profiles and action plan commitments used to identify oversight body reforms and cross-check independence provisions in OGP member countries. |
| US Federal Statutes | law.cornell.edu | Budget and Accounting Act of 1921 (31 U.S.C. §§ 701–720, GAO), Ethics in Government Act of 1978 (OGE), Inspector General Act of 1978 — statutory mandates for US federal oversight bodies. |
| CIGIE (US) | ignet.gov | Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency — membership list and mandates for all 74 US federal inspectors general, including appointment method, reporting structure, and investigative authority. |
| State Audit and Ethics Statutes (US) | State-specific | Primary text of state auditor, comptroller, inspector general, and ethics commission statutes for all 50 US states and DC, researched from official state legislative portals. |
Digital Accessibility Laws
100 laws covering 40+ jurisdictions across Europe, Asia-Pacific, the Americas, and Africa — recording whether governments are legally required to publish WCAG-conformant digital content.
| Source | URL | Data Provided |
|---|---|---|
| UN CRPD | un.org | Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (A/RES/61/106, 2006) — international human rights treaty ratified by 193 parties. The foundational legal basis for digital accessibility obligations worldwide; used to assess whether countries have binding obligations upstream of domestic legislation. |
| W3C WCAG Standards | w3.org | Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0 and 2.1 — the international technical standard referenced by virtually all national digital accessibility legislation. Used to determine which WCAG conformance level each law mandates. |
| EU Web Accessibility Directive | eur-lex.europa.eu | Directive (EU) 2016/2102 — requires EU public sector bodies to meet WCAG 2.1 AA. Source law for 27 EU member state entries, supplemented by each country's national transposition legislation. |
| European Accessibility Act | eur-lex.europa.eu | Directive (EU) 2019/882 — extends WCAG 2.1 AA requirements to private sector products and services across the EU (e-commerce, banking, e-books, transport). Requirements effective June 28, 2025. |
| EN 301 549 (ETSI) | etsi.org | ETSI EN 301 549 V3.2.1 — European harmonized ICT accessibility standard incorporating WCAG 2.1 AA for web content and additional requirements for non-web software and hardware. Referenced by both EU accessibility directives. |
| National Accessibility Laws | Country-specific | Primary text of national digital accessibility legislation for 40+ jurisdictions including UK (Public Sector Bodies Accessibility Regulations 2018), Australia (DDA 1992 + AGDS), Canada (provincial acts for BC, AB, SK, MB, ON, NS), Japan (JIS X 8341-3), South Korea (KWCAG), Brazil (Lei 13.146/2015), Norway (FOR-2013-06-21-732), Switzerland (BehiG), and others. |
| Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act (US) | section508.gov | 29 U.S.C. § 794d (as refreshed 2017) — requires US federal agencies to make electronic and information technology accessible. GSA guidance used for scope and WCAG level mapping. |
| DOJ ADA Title II Final Rule (US) | ada.gov | 2024 DOJ rulemaking specifying WCAG 2.1 AA as the standard for US state and local government web accessibility under ADA Title II. Effective dates: 2026 (larger jurisdictions) and 2027 (smaller jurisdictions). |