• Claudia Fuchs
• Maria Ph.Bertel
• Philipp Homar

SPEAKERS

César	Landa Arroyo
Clemens	Appl
Maria	Bertel
Nicolas	Ojeda-Zavala
Philipp	Homar
Roxan	Laubscher
Wendy	Ledesma Orbegozo

Transparency is a cornerstone of democratic legitimacy and an essential condition for governmental accountability in constitutional democracies. Public access to State-held information empowers civic participation, facilitates informed public discourse, and serves as a safeguard against the abuse of power. At the same time, the constitutional commitment to transparency gives rise to complex legal and normative questions: How can openness be reconciled with legitimate interests in secrecy, such as national security or diplomatic confidentiality? What is the relationship between the State’s duty to disclose and the fundamental rights of third parties, particularly in relation to privacy, data protection, commercial confidentiality, and Intellectual Property? And how do new technological developments challenge traditional understandings of openness and information control?

This panel, ‘The Transparent State’, explores these questions from both comparative constitutional and interdisciplinary perspectives. It examines how different constitutional systems define and limit governmental transparency, how they protect third-party rights, and how they respond to the growing demands of the digital public sphere. Particular attention will be given to the interaction between freedom of information, freedom of expression, and the evolving role of State secrecy in an era of rapid technological and societal change.

In doing so, the panel engages with the broader framework of sustainable constitutionalism, seeking to understand how transparency and competing constitutional values can be balanced in ways that preserve democratic legitimacy, institutional resilience, and rights protection over time. The panel aims to critically assess normative foundations and emerging legal developments whilst identifying pathways towards a constitutionally coherent and sustainable balance between transparency and the protection of competing rights and interests.