STB submitted an amicus brief to the Constitutional Tribunal of the Republic of Chile – Chile’s highest constitutional court – summarizing U.S. federal and state freedom of information laws on behalf of the New York City Bar Association.  The brief was prepared at the request of Fundación ProBono, a Chilean non-profit, in connection with a case pending before the Constitutional Tribunal involving Chile’s newly enacted freedom of information law. The Tribunal will address the constitutionality of Section 2, Article 5 of Chile’s Access to Public Information Law, which on its face requires the disclosure of government records. The amicus brief provided an overview of how U.S. federal and state freedom of information laws have been interpreted regarding electronic communications, and provides a legal framework for promoting “the fundamental principle that citizens have a right to access their government’s public documents, while balancing the government’s ability to operate and privacy of governmental employees.” Chile is the first South American country to deal with access to government e-mails as a transparency matter. This case is therefore highly significant both in Chile and as a precedent in neighboring jurisdictions.  The STB team includes partner Todd Crider, associates Paul Sirkis and Jonathan Lieberman Fernandez, and international associate Antonio Arias Etchebarne.