The
1993 Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms provides
for a right to information.(1)
Article 17 states:
(1)
Freedom of expression and the right to information are
guaranteed.
(2) Everybody has the right to express freely his or her
opinion by word, in writing, in the press, in pictures
or in any other form, as well as freely to seek, receive
and disseminate ideas and information irrespective of
the frontiers of the State.
(3) Censorship is not permitted.
(4) The freedom of expression and the right to seek and
disseminate information may be limited by law in the case
of measures essential in a democratic society for protecting
the rights and freedoms of others, the security of the
State, public security, public health, and morality.
(5) Organs of the State and of local self-government shall
provide in an appropriate manner information on their
activity. The conditions and the form of implementation
of this duty shall be set by law.
•
Combined gross enrolment ratio for primary,
secondary and tertiary schools, 2002/03: 80.5
•
GDP per capita (PPP US$) (HDI), 2003: 16,357
•
Total population (millions), 2003: 10
•
Total fertility rate (births per woman), 2000-05:
1.2
•
Under-five mortality rate (per 1,000 live births),
2003: 4
•
Net primary enrolment ratio (%), 2002/03: 87
•
HIV prevalence (% ages 15-49), 2003: 0.1 [<0.2]
•
Undernourished people (% of total population),
2000/03: N/A
•
Population with sustainable access to an improved
water source (%), 2002: N/A
Source:
UN Development Program, Human Development Reports
Data
The
Law on Free Access to Information was adopted in May 1999
and went into effect in January 2000.(2)
The law allows any natural or legal person to access information
held by State authorities, communal bodies and private institutions
managing public funds. Requests can be made in writing or
orally. The public bodies are required to respond to requests
within 15 days.
There
are exemptions for classified information, privacy, business
secrets, internal processes of a government body, information
collected for a decision that has not yet been made, intellectual
property, criminal investigations, activities of the courts,
and activities of the intelligence services. Fees can be
demanded for costs related to searching for information,
making copies and sending information.
Appeals
are made to the superior body in the state authority concerned,
which must decide in 15 days. An "exposition"
can be filled when a central state body rejects an information
request. The decision can then be appealed to a court under
a separate law. The courts have ruled in numerous cases
on issues including procedural and the relationship between
the FAI and other laws, where the FAI is given precedence
except where the other act sets out a complete access procedure.
There has been difficulty obtaining copies of decisions
from the courts and suits are pending to force disclosure.
Complaints
can also be made to the Public Defender of Rights (Ombudsman).(3)
The Office received 19 complaints in 2004. The office found
that the largest problem was a failure by public bodies
to recognize and register requests, failure to respond,
violation of procedures for denying information, and refusing
access to information to a person who is a party to an action.(4)
The Ombudsman has also noted problems with patients and
their families accessing their personal information collected
during medical treatment. He issued a recommendation in
2005 regarding access to the medical files of the deceased
by their families.(5)
Public
bodies must also publish information about their structure
and procedures as well as annual reports of their information-disclosure
activities.
The
2005 implementation report to the UNECE committee reported
a number of problems with access rights including conflicts
between the laws on access to information and the Administrative
Procedures Act, poor enforcement even when there is a court
judgment ordering release of information, slow and "ineffective"
court reviews and failure of government officials to release
information and follow the dictates of the laws.(6)
The NGO Otevrená Spolecnost's (Open Society) Right
to Information Project conducted studies in 2001 and 2002
and found that citizens have obtained access in a majority
of cases and the authorities have not been overwhelmed by
requests.(7) It also found a number of
problems including excessive fees being imposed, the overuse
of commercial secrets and data protection as justifications
for withholding, unjustified denials by agencies that claim
that they are not subject to the act or simply ignore the
law, and a failure of agencies to provide segregable information.
The
Law was amended in 2006 to make a number of improvements.
Courts can now order public bodies to release information
rather than returning the case to the public body for re-review,
fees are limited to mostly direct costs, relaxing the exemptions
so that personal information and trade secrets relating
to publicly funded activities can be released, and requiring
public bodies to public information that has been released
in a request. The changes also implement the EU Directive
on the re-use and commercial exploitation of public sector
information (2003/98/EC).
The
Protection of Classified Information Act was approved in
May 1998 as part of the Czech Republic's entry into NATO.(8)
It sets 28 types of information that can be classified into
four levels of classification. The Office for the Documentation
and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism (UDV) is in
charge of security checks. The Constitutional Court ruled
in June 2002 that some provisions were unconstitutional
because they did not provide for judicial review and the
law was amended.(9) In March 2004, the
Court rejected an appeal from the Ombudsman to find that
the act was too vague in its categories of information.(10)
In
April 1996, Parliament approved a law that allows any Czech
citizen to obtain his or her file created by the communist-era
secret police (StB).(11) In March 2002,
President Havel signed legislation expanding access to the
files.(12)
Any Czech citizen over 18 years old can access nearly any
file. The Interior Ministry's Office for the Documentation
and Investigation of the Crimes of Communism (UDV) is in
charge of the files.(13) The Interior
Ministry was estimated to hold 60,000 records but it is
believed that many more were destroyed in 1989. Another
70 meters of files about former dissidents and diplomats
were discovered in its archives in 2005. The government
published a list of 75,000 StB collaborators in 2003 on
the Ministry's website.(14)
The
2000 Data Protection Act allows individuals to access and
correct their personal information held by public and private
bodies.(15) It is enforced by the Office
for Personal Data Protection.(16)
The Czech Republic signed the Aarhus Convention in June
1998 and ratified it in July 2004. Law No 123/1998 on the
right to information on the environment requires that public
bodies disclose information on environmental matters. It
was amended in 2005 to make it compatible with the EU Directive
2003 on access to environmental information.(17)
12
FEBRUARY 2004 Czech court rejects initiative to
ease restrictions on classified information
The Czech Constitutional Court on 11 February rejected an
initiative from Ombudsman Otakar Motejl that would have
compelled the Foreign Ministry to publish information classified
by the ministry as "sensitive political, security,
and economic information concerning international relations,"
CTK reported. The presiding judge said approval of the initiative
could threaten the Czech Republic's ability to protect sensitive
information. The judge also said international organizations
might hesitate to provide the Czech Republic with classified
information. Motejl, acting on a proposal forwarded to the
government by former Human Rights Commissioner Petr Uhl,
argued that citizens should have access to all information
that it is not strictly necessary to protect in a state
based on the rule of law. While conceding that current regulations
could "in theory" lead to abuse, the judge said
citizens may appeal to the courts if they suspect such abuse.
Source: http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/foia/
24
JULY 2003 Slovak Institute Requests Access
to Czech Archives RFE/RL
Newsline reports that the Slovak National Memory Institute
has asked the Czech Republic on to provide it with archival
material on Slovak citizens who served Czechoslovakia's
communist-era secret police. Marian Gula, a member of the
institute's board, told the Czech news agency that Slovak
StB records are incomplete and some of that material is
still in the Czech Republic.
3
DECEMBER 2002
CZECH REPUBLIC: Commission Created to Monitor Declassification The CTK news agency reports that the Czech Republic's
Chamber of Deputies has established a new parliamentary
Commission to monitor declassification of former communist
secret police files, and to receive appeals from members
of the public whose requests that have been denied.
"Citizens
who would be denied access to [secret police] files by state
bodies will be able to turn to the commission which will
rule whether
the files will not be made available or whether a citizen
will be
able to see them in spite of state bodies' negative stand."
According
to the report, both Czechs and foreigners with Czech citizenship
above the age of 18 can apply for access to the materials.
8.
Act 148/1998 dated 11 June 1998 on Protection of Classified
Information and on Amendment to Certain Acts. http://www.nbu.cz/en/act148.php
Most recently amended by Act No. 310/2002 Coll. Regulation
348/2002 concerning Security Eligibility of Individuals,
22 July 2002. http://www.nbu.cz/angl/regulation.html
11.
Act N. 140/1996 Coll. of 26 April 1996 on Disclosure
of Files Established by Activities of the Former State Security
Force. See Former Secret Police Files Will Be Open to Public.
http://www.mzv.cz/washington/newslet/c09-1296.htm
12.
Act 107/2002 amending Act No. 140/1996 Coll. on providing
access to volumes created within the activities of the former
State Security, and some other Acts.
"The
law guarantees public access to government information.
The Government provided such access in practice
for citizens and noncitizens, including foreign
media. No prohibitive fees were used, and applicants
may appeal a decision about information release
within 15 days of a decision or if the time limit
for processing a request is exceeded."
1)
Voice and Accountability: 1.03
2) Political Instability and Violence: 0.84
3) Government Effectiveness: 0.63
4) Regulatory Burden: 0.97
5) Rule of Law: 0.69
6) Control of Corruption: 0.30
