Workshop Report: National Security and Access to Information

This report describes a conference held on 25 and 26 October 2010 in Cape Town, South Africa, focused on national security and access to information. The event aimed to develop principles for national security and access to information based on comparative law and policy, specifically informing the debate on South Africa's Protection of Information Bill.

• The conference was part of an international project by the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) to establish principles for national security and access to information using comparative law and policy arguments, with the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and Freedom of Expression Institute (FXI) contributing a specific chapter on South Africa.
• South Africa is debating the Protection of Information Bill to replace the Protection of Information Act of 1982, which is viewed as a product of the "centralised security state" and inconsistent with democratic values of transparency and accountability. While the new Bill is seen as a step toward improving access by limiting the types and duration of information classification, concerns persist regarding provisions that may infringe on media freedom and the constitutional right to information.
• The conference outcomes included expert advice and peer review for the South Africa country chapter, recommendations for draft principles, and the application of international comparative experiences and analysis to the debate over the Protection of Information Bill in South Africa.

APA

Institute for Security Studies (n.d.). Workshop Report: National Security and Access to Information. https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/conference-reports/workshop-report-national-security-and-access-to-information

Chicago

Institute for Security Studies. Workshop Report: National Security and Access to Information. n.d. https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/conference-reports/workshop-report-national-security-and-access-to-information.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Institute for Security Studies |title=Workshop Report: National Security and Access to Information |url=https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/conference-reports/workshop-report-national-security-and-access-to-information |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{instituteforsecuritystudiesndworkshop, author = {{Institute for Security Studies}}, title = {{Workshop Report: National Security and Access to Information}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, url = {https://issafrica.org/research/publication-archives/conference-reports/workshop-report-national-security-and-access-to-information}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }