What Is the Right of Access to Information?
It is a fundamental human and constitutional right that allows everyone to request and receive any information and documents held by the government.
The right of access to information is internationally recognized as a cross-cutting right that affects all other human rights in society.
The right of access to information is the oxygen of democracy and the cornerstone of government transparency.
This right is recognized in Article 19 of both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. The Organization of American States, the European Union, the Council of Europe and the African Union also recognize the importance of guaranteeing it.
Puerto Rico’s Constitution Is the Foundation of Our Right to Information
The right of access to information was recognized in Puerto Rico as a fundamental human and constitutional right following the Puerto Rico Supreme Court’s 1982 decision in Soto v. Secretario de Justicia. In that case, writer Pedro Juan Soto and Ángeles Rivera Castillo, the father and widow, respectively, of Carlos Soto Arriví and Arnaldo Darío Rosado — two young men killed by the Puerto Rico Police at Cerro Maravilla — requested and obtained certain public documents related to the investigation into the killings.
Although the right is not explicitly stated in Puerto Rico’s Constitution, it stems from the rights to freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of association expressly guaranteed under Article II, Section 4.
Constitutional rights cannot be abolished by the Legislature, but they can be regulated through legislation, provided the restrictions are not unduly burdensome.
Several public information access cases have established legal precedents, including litigation against the Department of Health and the Demographic Registry over a database of causes of death, and a federal lawsuit against the Financial Oversight and Management Board seeking information and documents exchanged with the government.
The Centro de Periodismo Investigativo (CPI) is represented in access-to-information cases by the Access to Information Project of the Legal Aid Clinic at the Inter American University of Puerto Rico Law School. The program brings together law students and faculty members to defend access to public information and the freedoms of the press and expression in Puerto Rico.
Access-to-Information Legislation
In 2016, the CPI, together with a group of organizations and individuals, advocated for the Transparency and Access to Public Documents and Information Act. The measure did not pass.
In the summer of 2019, one day before former Gov. Ricardo Rosselló Nevares resigned, he signed Act 141, the Transparency and Expedited Procedure for Access to Public Information Act, without holding public hearings and despite opposition from all journalism organizations. Among other provisions, the law established a 10-day deadline for public agencies to provide information and created a special legal procedure allowing requesters to go to court without legal representation.
Under Gov. Jenniffer González Colón’s administration, the Legislative Assembly passed Act 156 of 2025, amending the 2019 Transparency Act to make it more restrictive by adding bureaucratic procedures that double the time agencies have to respond to information requests, among other changes. More than 50 local and international organizations opposed the measure, which received only one public hearing and no testimony in support from nongovernmental organizations.
Since 2009, the CPI has filed more than 60 access-to-information cases and prevailed in most of them, securing information that has made it possible to publish investigations and news reports scrutinizing government operations and the use of public funds.
Access-to-Information Cases Filed by the CPI
2009
1. CPI v. Demographic Registry and Department of Health (2009-2010, closed): Sought the database of causes of death in Puerto Rico.
2. CPI v. State Elections Commission (2009-2012, closed): Sought information about audits and fines involving candidates who participated in the 2008 elections.
2010
3. CPI v. Puerto Rico Police (2010, closed): Sought any protocols, administrative orders, circular letters, manuals or regulations concerning police officers recording people at demonstrations.
4. CPI v. Fortuño (2011, closed): Sought access to the then-governor’s schedule of activities and/or agenda, as well as visitor logs for La Fortaleza, the governor’s official residence, from Jan. 2, 2018, through the end of his term.
5. CPI v. Fortuño, Government Development Bank and Others (2010, closed): Concerned the Government Development Bank and records related to the layoff process established under Act 7.
6. CPI, APPRO and Others v. Rivera Schatz (2010, closed): Sought access to the spectator galleries at the Capitol.
2015
7. CPI and ASPPRO v. García Padilla and Government Development Bank (2015-2016, closed): Sought information identifying bondholders who purchased debt in the 2014 junk bond issuance.
2017
8. CPI v. Rosselló and AAFAF (2017, closed): Sought information and materials exchanged between La Fortaleza and the Financial Oversight and Management Board concerning the board’s operations.
9. CPI v. Financial Oversight and Management Board (2017, closed): Sought access to the board’s communications with the governments of Puerto Rico and the United States, including signed contracts, meeting minutes and financial reports submitted to or received by board members, among other documents.
10. CPI v. U.S. Department of the Treasury (2017-2024): Sought all emails and evaluation criteria related to the selection process for members of the Financial Oversight and Management Board.
2018
11. CPI and CNN v. Demographic Registry (2018, closed): Sought the database of causes of death in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria.
12. CPI v. FEMA (2018, closed): Sought information about the agency’s response to Hurricane Maria.
13. CPI v. Pesquera López and Others (2018, closed): Sought the version of the State Emergency Management Plan in effect as of September 2018.
2019
14. CPI v. Rivera Schatz (2019, closed): Sought the Senate’s list of lobbyists for 2017 and 2018. The list was to include each lobbyist’s name, the firm they worked for and the clients for whom the individual or firm provided lobbying services.
15. CPI v. Maldonado Gautier and Sobrino Vega (2019, closed): Sought implementation plans and progress reports submitted by the government to the Financial Oversight and Management Board.
16. CPI v. State Insurance Fund (2019, closed): Sought minutes of its board of directors’ meetings from 2009 through 2012.
2020
17. CPI v. Highways and Transportation Authority (2020, closed): Sought lists of bridges vulnerable to scour, bridges destroyed by Hurricane Maria and bridges reopened after being destroyed by the September 2017 hurricane.
18. CPI and ASPPRO v. Vázquez Garced (2020, closed): Sought the report concerning a warehouse of supplies for disaster victims in Ponce.
19. CPI v. Demographic Registry (2020, closed): Sought an updated database of causes of death and death certificates during the COVID-19 pandemic.
20. CPI v. Department of Education (2020, closed): Sought information including a list of schools closed after Hurricane Maria, school facility inspections, a detailed budget for the current fiscal year, the agency’s current directory of offices and contact personnel, the number of internal auditors and the names of firms contracted to conduct audits, among other data.
2021
21. CPI v. Municipality of San Juan (2021, closed): Sought salary information for municipal employees who worked for the municipality from 2008 through 2020.
22. CPI v. Department of Health (2021, closed): Sought the COVID-19 vaccination registry.
23. CPI v. Department of Education (2021, closed): Sought enrollment figures, budgets for all public schools and a breakdown of funds allocated to the department following earthquakes and hurricanes.
24. CPI and Ortiz Blanes v. Puerto Rico Police (2021, closed): Sought data on complaints and incidents involving violence by police officers against their intimate partners.
25. CPI v. Departments of Treasury and Economic Development (2021, closed): Sought financial reports on resident investors benefiting from what was then Act 22, now Act 60.
26. CPI and Hermes Ayala Guzmán v. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and Office of Permit Management (2021, closed): Sought information about tree cutting, pruning and transplanting.
27. CPI v. Department of Health (2021, closed): Sought information and documents about the agency’s emergency preparedness for dialysis patients and/or people with chronic conditions.
2022
28. CPI and Edgardo Omar Alfonso Torres v. Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (2022, closed): Sought correspondence among the Financial Oversight and Management Board, the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority (PREPA) and Applied Energy Services (AES) concerning a proposal to transition the AES power plant to renewable energy generation.
29. CPI v. Department of Natural Resources (2022, closed): Sought the State Implementation Plan for areas that do not meet the sulfur dioxide standard, a breakdown of funds received from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and reports and projects submitted by the Department of Natural Resources to the EPA over the previous 10 years concerning the use of funds allocated to the Air Quality Program.
30. CPI v. Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration (2022-2023): Sought anonymized data on the use of health insurance plans participating in the government’s health plan from 2012 to the present.
31. CPI v. Department of Education; Puerto Rico Department of Public Safety; Department of Housing (2022, closed): Sought information about access-to-information training and the monthly statistical reports required by the Transparency Act.
32. CPI v. Autonomous Municipality of Añasco and Others (2022, closed): Sought updated contact information for public officials designated as information officers in these municipalities and any official letters detailing their appointments.
2023
33. CPI v. Reyes Serrano, Puerto Rico Office for Socioeconomic and Community Development and Perpetual Trust for Special Communities (2023, closed): Sought a list of community centers and recreational spaces under the jurisdiction of the Office for Socioeconomic and Community Development (ODSEC, in Spanish).
34. CPI v. Vélez Martínez, Office of the Electoral Comptroller (2023, closed): Sought the complete files of all income and expenditure reports, including attachments, submitted by Ricardo Rosselló Nevares’ committee for 2019 and 2020, including records concerning the committee’s closure or dissolution.
35. CPI and Todas (Equilátera) v. University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez (2023, closed): Sought campus sexual harassment data broken down by gender, type of complainant and academic year, from 2011-2012 through 2021-2022.
36. CPI v. Department of Natural and Environmental Resources (2023, closed): Sought the complete complaint and environmental case files for three Superfund programs: Ochoa Fertilizer in Guánica, PROTECO in Peñuelas and Battery Recycling in Arecibo.
37. CPI v. Demographic Registry (2023, closed): Sought an updated mortality database containing the first and last names and addresses of deceased individuals and informants for 2022 and 2023.
38. CPI v. Puerto Rico Tourism Company (2023, closed): Sought a list of all properties registered to operate as short-term rentals in Puerto Rico, including their physical addresses, business names and owners’ names.
39. CPI v. Department of Health (2023, closed): Sought reports prepared by the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concerning hurricanes Irma and Maria, the 2020 earthquakes and Hurricane Fiona, which were received by the Puerto Rico Department of Health’s Biosafety Office. The request also covered Threat, Vulnerability and Risk Analysis reports for 2014 through 2017 or the database of patients who depend on electricity under the emPOWER program.
2024
40. CPI v. Land Authority (2024, closed): Sought information about the composition of its governing board and minutes of its meetings.
41. CPI v. Ana Escobar Pabón (Department of Correction and Rehabilitation) (2024, closed): Sought information about services billed by Physician Correctional (Physician HMO), including the company’s monthly monitoring reports since 2018, annual reports on correctional health care operations and compliance levels.
42. CPI v. State Elections Commission (2024, closed): Sought information about the vote-counting machines used in the initial tabulation of early and absentee ballots before Election Day, as well as those used at regular polling places on Nov. 5, 2024, the date of the general election.
43. CPI v. Manuel Cidre Miranda, Department of Economic Development and Commerce (2024, active): Sought the database on the impact of economic incentives under Act 60 of 2019, including the former Act 22 of 2012, which sought to encourage investors to relocate to Puerto Rico, as well as a list of nonprofit organizations that received donations from investors benefiting from the tax incentive.
44. CPI v. Department of Treasury (2024, closed): Sought invoices from advertising agency Digimedia LLC/MOZart Advertising related to any Treasury division for the period from 2021 through Sept. 25, 2024.
2025
45. CPI v. Department of Public Safety and Bureau of Emergency Management and Disaster Administration (2025, closed): Sought information about Annex P of the Puerto Rico All-Hazards Plan, also known as the Electric Service Interruptions Incident Plan.
46. CPI v. Department of Education (2025, closed): Sought copies of reports prepared by M2AGroup concerning an assessment of air conditioners in schools and the condition of electrical substations at 709 school facilities.
47. CPI v. Senate and House of Representatives (2025, closed): Sought information about per diem and mileage payments to legislators, reports submitted to claim those payments and the names of legislators who earned outside income between January and June 2025. The request also sought confirmation of the sources of that income and whether it was subject to taxation.
48. CPI v. Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration (2025, closed): Sought data from 2021 through 2025, including the total number of people on waiting lists for services, their locations and demographic profiles, the number of available and occupied beds, and the specialized staff at these institutions.
49. CPI v. Sebastián Negrón Reichard, Department of Economic Development and Commerce (2025, active): Sought data on incentives, exemptions and decrees granted to corporations associated with the tourism industry under Puerto Rico’s Incentives Code.
50. CPI v. Department of Treasury (2025, closed): Sought information about contracts, invoices and the total amount paid to advertising agencies Digimedia, Key Integrated Solutions and KOI for the Electronic Lottery and Traditional Lottery from 2022 to the present.
51. CPI v. Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction and Resiliency, Public-Private Partnerships Authority (2025, closed): Sought two reports detailing the amounts and status of disaster recovery funds related to reconstruction following Hurricane Maria.
52. CPI v. Jenniffer González Colón and Marieli Padró Raldiris (2025, closed): Concerned the exclusion of the outlet’s journalists from news conferences at La Fortaleza because they did not present credentials issued by the Department of State.
2026
53. CPI v. Francisco J. Domenech, Housing, Health, Education and P3A (2026, closed): Sought documents produced as a result of a memorandum establishing internal government transparency measures for the executive branch and the Code of Ethics for Contractors.
54. CPI v. Office of the Governor and Office of the Secretary of the Governorship (2026, closed): Concerned the failure to provide contact information for executive branch information officers and agency heads appointed under the governor’s administration.
55. CPI v. Puerto Rico Aqueduct and Sewer Authority (2026, closed): Concerned the failure to provide progress reports and information about how much money had been invested in a project in Arecibo to rehabilitate wastewater infrastructure, pumps for diverting water and security services contracted from September 2017 through December 2025.
56. CPI v. Department of Education (2026, closed): Concerned the failure to provide information about the Free School Selection Program, including how many public school students participated in the program at each participating private school and the amount of funding those schools received through vouchers from the 2019-2020 through 2024-2025 academic years.
57. CPI v. Department of Recreation and Sports (2026, active): Concerned the failure to disclose how more than $13 million allocated to the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee was spent, the annual budget allocated to Sports Training Centers and the funding provided to sports federations.
58. CPI v. Puerto Rico Police (2026, active): Concerned the failure to provide a list of people reported missing in Puerto Rico from 2014 through 2025, including their names, municipalities of residence, last known locations, dates they were last seen, sex and age.
59. CPI v. House of Representatives (2026, closed): Concerned the failure to provide sworn statements and reports on representatives’ income from sources outside the Legislature.
60. CPI v. Puerto Rico Health Insurance Administration (2026, active): Concerned the failure to disclose how many people are covered by the government’s Vital health insurance plan because of financial need, catastrophic illnesses, special coverage and cancer, as well as the annual cost to the public treasury.
61. CPI v. Department of Treasury (2026, closed): Concerned the failure to disclose how much money has been donated to the organization created by the government to preserve La Fortaleza, the total value of the tax credits or how the money has been used.
