(1)
Everyone shall have the right to freely receive information
circulated for general use.
(2) At the request of Estonian citizens, and to the extent
and in accordance with procedures determined by law, all
state and local government authorities and their officials
shall be obligated to provide information on their work,
with the exception of information which is forbidden by
law to be divulged, and information which is intended
for internal use only.
(3) Estonian citizens shall have the right to become acquainted
with information about themselves held by state and local
government authorities and in state and local government
archives, in accordance with procedures determined by
law. This right may be restricted by law in order to protect
the rights and liberties of other persons, and the secrecy
of children's ancestry, as well as to prevent a crime,
or in the interests of apprehending a criminal or to clarify
the truth for a court case.
(4) Unless otherwise determined by law, the rights specified
in Paragraphs (2) and (3) shall exist equally for Estonian
citizens and citizens of other states and stateless persons
who are present in Estonia.(1)
•
Undernourished people (% of total population),
2000/03: 5
•
Population with sustainable access to an improved
water source (%), 2002: N/A
Source:
UN Development Program, Human Development Reports
Data
The
Public
Information Act (PIA) was approved in November 2000
and took effect in January 2001.(2) The
Act covers state and local agencies, legal persons in public
law and private entities that are conducting public duties
including educational, health care, social or other public
services. Any person may make a request for information
and the holder of information must respond within five working
days. Requests for information are registered. Fees may
be waived if information is requested for research purposes.
The
Act does not apply to information classified as a state
secret. Internal information can be withheld for five years.
This includes information that is: relating to pending court
cases; collected in the course of state supervision proceedings;
would damage the foreign relations of the state; relating
to armaments and location of military units; would endanger
heritage or natural habitats; security measures; draft legislation
and regulations; other documents not in the register; and
personal information. Information relating to public opinion
polls, generalized statistics, economic and social forecasts,
the environment, property and consumer-product quality cannot
be restricted.
The
Act also includes significant provisions on electronic access
and disclosure. Government department must maintain document
registers. National and local government departments and
other holders of public information have the duty to maintain
websites and post an extensive list of information on the
Web including statistics on crime and economics; enabling
statutes and structural units of agencies; job descriptions
of officials, their addresses, qualifications and salary
rates; information relating to health or safety; budgets
and draft budgets; information on the state of the environment;
and draft acts, regulations and plans including explanatory
memorandum. They are also required to ensure that the information
is not "outdated, inaccurate or misleading." In
addition, e-mail requests must be treated as official requests
for information. Public libraries were required to have
access to computer networks by 2002.
The
Act is enforced by the Data
Protection Inspectorate.(3) The Inspectorate
can review the procedures of the public authorities and
receive complaints. Officials can demand explanations from
government bodies and examine internal documents. The Inspectorate
can order a body to comply with the Act and release documents.
The Inspectorate has made inquiries with data holders and
believes that the act is generally followed although in
15 percent of the cases there was non-compliance and five
cases of a breach of the PIA.(4)
In 2004, the PIA investigated 34 complaints about the Act.
The body can appeal to an administrative court. There have
been only a few court cases so far.
A
review by the Council of Europe GRECO committee found that
the Act was successful in promoting access to information:
The
GET found that the rules providing transparency of the
Estonian public administration are satisfactory. It was
confirmed to the GET that the Public Information Act had
brought dramatic changes, such as a broad information
flow available on-line (electronically), facilitated access
to public documents, press attachés in every Ministry
etc. The obligations on authorities under the Public Information
Act not only to provide information, but also to assist
the public in accessing documents, are important features
of this law. Furthermore, there is a practice of public
consultation.(5)
The
State
Secrets Act controls the creation, use and dissemination
of secret information.(6) It was amended
in August 2001 to comply with NATO requirements. It sets
four levels of classification and information can be classified
for up to fifty years. The Penal Code prohibits the intentional
or negligent disclosure of state secrets or "internal
information."(7) Foreign Minister
Kristiina Ojuland was fired in 2005 after an audit found
that 91 secret documents were missing.(8)
Defense Minister Margus Hanson resigned in November 2004
following the theft of a briefcase of containing secret
documents from his home. He was fined 6,250 euros in November
2005.
The
Personal
Data Protection Act allows individuals to obtain and
correct records containing personal information about themselves
held by public and private bodies. It is enforced by the
Data Protection Inspectorate.(9)
The
Archives
Act requires that public records are transferred to
the Archive after twenty years.(10)
Estonia
signed the Aarhus Convention in June 1998 and ratified it
in August 2001. The PIA applies to access environmental
information. The Environmental
Register Act requires the collection in a database of
detailed information regarding the environment including
pollution, waste and radioactive waste, genetically modified
organisms, natural environmental factors, permits and other
materials.(11) The information is public
unless its release would endanger public safety, cause environmental
damage, or contains intellectual property secrets. There
are also a variety of other environmental laws that provide
for collection and disclosure of environmental information.(12)
4.
Council of Europe, Responses to the Questionnaire on
National Practices in Terms of Access to Official Documents
- Estonia, Sem-AC(2002)002 Bil, 18 November 2002, p.154.
"The
Public Information Act enables the public to access
government information and allows for monitoring
of the public sector's performance. The Government
provided access for citizens in practice."
1)
Voice and Accountability: 1.13
2) Political Instability and Violence: 0.92
3) Government Effectiveness: 0.99
4) Regulatory Burden: 1.61
5) Rule of Law: 0.91
6) Control of Corruption: 0.82
