16 - Transparency and legislative traceability: evolution of bills
Brief description of the commitment: Development of a system to strengthen the transparency and traceability of bills. The goal is for anyone to be able to understand, monitor, and track the evolution of the articles included in bills debated and approved by the Legislative Branch, analyzing the changes each article has undergone during the parliamentary process, from its original version to its final wording.
Organization leading the commitment: House of Representatives and Senate - Parliament - Legislative Branch.
Supporting institution/organization: Administrative Commission - Legislative Branch, Uruguayan Network of Clear Legal Language (Milestone 1).
Responsible for the commitment: Emiliano Metediera, Secretary-Rapporteur of the House of Representatives. Contact: emetediera@diputados.gub.uy ; Juan Pedro Lista, Director General of the Senate. Contact: jlista@parlamento.gub.uy
Monitoring Officers: Carlos Rocca Balea, Director of the Secretariat Area of the Board of the House of Representatives. Contact: rocca@diputados.gub.uy ; Natalia Polero, Director of the Secretariat Area of the Board of the Senate. Contact: npolero@parlamento.gub.uy
Stakeholders:
- Government: The three branches of government, oversight bodies, and Agesic.
- Civil Society: Data Uruguay, CAinfo, Public and private universities.
- Other actors (Parliament, private sector, etc.): Not applicable.
Implementation period: September 2025 – June 2029.
Problem definition
What problem does the commitment intend to address?
Currently, citizens have no easy way to understand how a bill has changed during its legislative process. The lack of visual and structured access to the evolution of the wording in each bill undermines legislative transparency and limits participation and informed monitoring by citizens, the media, and academia.
What are the causes of the problem?
The main causes that drive this commitment are: A) Absence of accessible digital tools that display the traceability of bills; b) Lack of standardization in the public presentation of legislative changes, and c) Poor articulation between internal processes of Parliament among its implementing units and their opening in understandable formats.
Description of the commitment
What has been done so far to solve the problem?
Currently, versions of the bills are available on the Parliament's website, but without a structure that allows for easy comparison of versions or specific tracking of each article.
What solution does it propose?
The design of an interactive tool, integrated into the Parliament's website, is proposed. This tool will allow for a clear, accessible, and dynamic visualization of the legislative history of each article. Through a simple and user-friendly interface, users will be able to select any article to view its initial version, the modifications made, the corresponding justifications, and the final approved text. This public traceability system will contribute to strengthening citizen oversight and understanding of the legislative process, reducing the gap between citizens and political activity.
What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment?
The results we want to achieve with this commitment focus on: a) Greater public understanding of the lawmaking process; b) Increased citizen oversight of changes introduced in bills; c) Strengthening trust in the transparency and openness of the Legislative Branch; and d) Generating a model tool that can be replicated in other legislative bodies in the country and abroad.
Commitment analysis
How will the commitment promote transparency?
Citizens will have direct access to key information about how and why bills change. The system will clearly show how the bill originated, at what stage each change is proposed, and whether it has been added, replaced, or deleted.
How will the commitment help foster accountability?
It will allow for the identification and visualization of legislative changes, facilitating public and journalistic scrutiny. It will also enable the evaluation of the consistency between initial proposals, changes introduced, and final decisions.
How will the commitment improve citizen participation in defining, implementing, and monitoring solutions?
It will provide clear and accessible information that can be used by journalists, research centers, universities and the general public to become more actively involved in legislative monitoring.
| Milestone | Milestone Description | Expected result | Completion date | Leading institution |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Implementation of pilot project. | Selection of Bills from the last Legislature, to be included in the evolution traceability spreadsheet currently used. Pilot published on the Parliament's website. | June 2026 | House of Representatives, Senate |
| 2 | New IT tool for visualization in open data format. | Development and implementation of an IT tool that allows the visualization of open data. Pilot evaluated in the new system. | March 2027 | House of Representatives, Senate |
| 3 | Information about the new system published in open data. | Launch of the new system through an official presentation in the Parliament. | June 2027 | House of Representatives, Senate |
| 4 | Dissemination of the system among citizens, highlighting the functionalities that enable transparency and traceability of legislative projects | Publication of information related to the new system on social media and the institutional website.
| June 2027 | House of Representatives, Senate |
| 5 | Progressive evolution of the system with the incorporation of bills from previous legislatures | Publication in the new system of bills from at least 2 previous legislatures. | June 2028 | House of Representatives, Senate |