Francisco Eduardo Gonçalves, F Paulino, Luma Poletti Dutra
This study analyzes the potential and limitations of the Access to Information Law (LAI) in Brazil as a normative instrument for guaranteeing the right of information. The research investigates how information requests directed to the federal government by journalists are processed. Although journalists represent a numerically small portion of applicants, they stand out for registering the highest average number of requests per author in the first ten years of the law's validity (2012–2022). The methodological procedures adopted include documentary research, quantitative data analysis, and semi-structured interviews with journalists who frequently use the LAI and with former ombudsmen of the Comptroller General of the Union (CGU). The journalists' accounts reveal that the LAI is adopted as a tool in their daily routine in an attempt to guarantee the right of access to public information, but limitations to broad transparency are perceived. Former ombudsmen interviewed admit that requests from journalists can generate concerns in sectors of the federal administration, adding aspects unrelated to the expectation of greater state transparency to the processing of information requests. It is concluded that, despite its limitations, the legal instrument represents an important toll to expand the right to information.