Antigua and Barbuda’s Freedom of Information Act, designed to give citizens access to public records, is falling short in practice, according to a U.S. government report.
The **2025 Investment Climate Statement**, published in September by the U.S. Department of State, said the law grants citizens the statutory right to request official documents from public authorities and establishes a commissioner to oversee the process. But the report noted that residents often face significant difficulties in obtaining records.
“Citizens found it difficult to obtain documents, possibly due to government funding constraints rather than obstruction,” the State Department wrote.
The Act also created a special unit to monitor and verify disclosures, but by law, those disclosures are not public. While there are criminal and administrative penalties for noncompliance, enforcement has been inconsistent.
The U.S. report placed the shortcomings of the Freedom of Information Act within a broader pattern of transparency challenges. It said that while Antigua and Barbuda publishes laws, regulations, and judicial decisions, draft bills are not always subject to public consultation, limiting stakeholder input into policymaking.
Antigua and Barbuda is party to multiple international conventions on good governance, but the State Department concluded that implementation of domestic transparency mechanisms remains weak.
