El Financiero newspaper reports that Costa Rica’s Guild of Journalists (Colper) and the Institute for Press and Freedom of Expression (IPLEX) have joined with the paper in a suit against the Ministry of Labor for refusing to release data about firms that fail to comply with minimum wage laws.
El Financiero took the case to court last week to defend its right to public information, arguing that minimum wage infractions are of public interest and that citizens have the right to know who the violators are. However, the Ministry argued that the information could not be legally given out, because it was considered private information about the employers.
Colper filed a motion of judicial support, arguing for the need to guarantee freedom of expression and access to public information.
For more information about information access throughout Latin America, see this map from the Knight Center.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
