Article
38 of the Constitution of Croatia provides for freedom of
expression and prohibits censorship, and provides a right
of access to information to journalists.(1)
•
Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary,
secondary and tertiary schools, 2002/03: 74.9
•
GDP per capita (PPP US$) (HDI), 2003: 11,080
•
Total population (millions), 2003: 5
•
Total fertility rate (births per woman), 2000-05:
1.3
•
Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births),
2003: 7
•
Net primary enrolment ratio (%), 2002/03: 89
•
HIV prevalence (% ages 15-49), 2003: <0.1
[<0.2]
•
Undernourished people (% of total population),
2000/03: 7
•
Population with sustainable access to an improved
water source (%), 2002: N/A
Source:
UN Development Program, Human Development Reports
Data
Any
person has the right to information from bodies of public
authorities, including state bodies, local and regional
governments, and legal and other persons vested with public
powers. Requests can be either oral or written. Public authorities
are required to respond within 15 days.
There
are mandatory exemptions for information that is declared
a state, military, official, professional or business secret
by law or personal information protected by the law on data
protection. Information can also be withheld if there is
a "well-founded suspicion" that its publication
would cause harm to prevent, uncover or prosecute criminal
offenses; make it impossible to conduct court, administrative,
or other hearings; make it impossible to conduct administrative
supervision; cause serious damage to the life, health and
safety of the people or environment; make it impossible
to implement economic or monetary policies; or endanger
the right of intellectual property.
Appeals
of withholdings are to the head of the competent body of
the public authority. If that is unsatisfactory, complaints
can be filed with the Administrative Court. As of 2005,
the courts had issued twenty decisions, mostly relating
to the failure of public bodies to respond to requests.(3)
They did issue one controversial decision that contracts
between the government and German Telecom were business
secrets. Complaints can also be made to the Ombudsman.
His decisions are not binding and the office has a broad
mandate with many other issues.
Requestors
can also demand that information that is incomplete or inaccurate
be amended or corrected.
The
law also imposes a number of administrative duties on public
authorities to improve access. They are required to appoint
an information officer and develop a catalog of the information
that they possess. They must publish in the official gazettes
or on the Internet all decisions and measures which affect
the interests of beneficiaries; information on their work
including activities, structure, and expenditures; information
on the use of the Act; and information relating to public
tenders. They must also create a report on the status of
implementation. The government must publish an annual report
on the overall implementation of the law.
There
are sanctions available against both legal and physical
persons for failure to make information available and criminal
penalties for intentionally damaging, destroying, or concealing
information.
The
Council of Europe GRECO Committee recommended in December
2005 that the effectiveness of implementation be evaluated
and further training be given to public officials.(4)
A review in 2005 by the Croatian Helsinki Committee describes
the implementation of the law as "very slow so far."(5)
Public bodies fail to respond to requests, and many have
not appointed information officials, created catalogs of
information or registers of requests. The Zagreb Mayor's
office was described as the most secretive public body.
The Helsinki Committee also reported that journalists face
difficulties in obtaining even routine information and that
the Administrative Court was even denying the names of public
bodies that were found by the court to have violated the
law. Civil Society groups are continuing to push for amendments
to the Act including the creation of an independent Information
Commission and a public interest test.(6)
The
1996 Law on the Protection of the Secrecy of Data creates
broad rules for the protection of five categories of information:
national secrets, military secrets, official secrets, business
secrets, and professional secrets.(7) A
bill was introduced by the government in March 2006 to replace
the 1996 law with a new Data Secrecy law which creates new
limits on non-classified information. The government report
claims that the 1996 law failed to set a common minimum
security standard which resulted in the failure of many
government authorities to adopt regulations, which violates
their obligations under NATO and EU rules. The bill creates
four categories of classified information including one
that would allow classification if the information "would
damage the efficiency and performance of tasks of public
authorities" and fails to set maximum time limits on
classification. NGOs in Croatia have set up a campaign to
oppose the effort and promote amendments to improve access
to information.
The
unauthorized publication or disclosure of information classified
as a state secret is a violation of the Criminal Code.(8)
Officials can be imprisoned for up to five years. Non-officials
who know they are publishing a secret can be imprisoned
for up to three years or fined.
In
2001, the Interior Ministry provided access to the subjects
of 650 files of the nearly 40,000 files created by the Agency
for the Protection of the Constitutional Order (SZUP), former
President Franjo Tudjman's secret police which operated
in the 1990s. It claimed that the 650 were cases where the
agency had monitored people without justification and the
rest of the files were on paramilitary leaders or leaders
of rebellions.(9)
Croatia
signed the Aarhus Convention on Access to Information, Public
Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in
Environmental Matters on 25 June 1998 but has not ratified
it. In 2003, it approved the Protocol on Pollutant Release
and Transfer Registers to the Aarhus Convention. The Environmental
Protection Act of 1994 allows for some publicity and access
to environmental information.
Under
the Law
on Archive Records and Archives, documents are available
after 30 years. Documents relating to national security,
international relations and defense are sealed for 50 years.
Documents which contain personal information are sealed
for 70 years.(12)
"Implementation
of the 2003 Law on the Right to Access Information
has been insufficient, and the Croatian Journalists
Association reports that access to information
deteriorated in 2004."
1)
Voice and Accountability: 0.46
2) Political Instability and Violence: 0.35
3) Government Effectiveness: 0.32
4) Regulatory Burden: 0.19
5) Rule of Law: 0.07
6) Control of Corruption: 0.08
