25
JANUARY 2006
Macedonian Parliament Adopts Long-Awaited Freedom of Information
Law
The Parliament of Macedonia today adopted a FOI Law. The
law will go into force on June 1, 2006. The law establishes
the State Commission for free access, which would have authority
to rule on complaints from individuals about the government's
refusal to provide information, after publishing in Official
Gazette of Macedonia. More >>
The
freedom of speech, public address, public information
and the establishment of institutions for public information
is guaranteed.
Free access to information and the freedom of reception
and transmission of information are guaranteed.(1)
The
law allows any natural or legal person to obtain information
from state and municipal bodies and natural and legal persons
who are performing public functions. The requests can be
oral, written or electronic. Requests must be responded
to in 10 days.
There
are exemptions for classified information, personal data,
confidential information, tax violations, pending investigations,
documents being compiled if it would cause misunderstanding,
environmental protection, and protecting intellectual property.
All the exemptions are subject to a test that requires release
if the public interest is greater than the harm.
Denials
can be appealed to the Commission for the Protection of
the Right to Free Access to Information of Public Character.
The Commission can decide on complaints. It is also tasked
to ensure the law is implemented, publishes the list of
information holders, issues opinions on other laws, trains
public officials and compiles an annual report of all the
statistics for requests in the previous year. The Commission
was established in May 2006.
Appeals
of decisions of the Commission can be filed in a court.
Public
bodies are required to designate officials to be responsible
for implementation of the act. The bodies are required to
make public information on their organizations and structures,
competencies, regulations, programs and activities, procurements,
costs and publishing of decisions. They must maintain and
regularly update and publish a list of information that
they hold. They must also maintain detailed statistics on
requests made and the final outcomes.
The
law also provides for a limited whistleblower protection
that limits sanctions for any public employee who discloses
protected information that reveals abuses of power or corruption
or that is for the prevention of serious threats to human
health and life or the environment.
Fines
can be imposed against officials who fail to follow various
requirements of the law.
The
Law
on Classified Information was adopted in 2004 to implement
EU and NATO standards on protections of secret information.(3)
It creates four levels of classification. The Directorate
for Security of Classified Information oversees the functioning
of the law.
The
Law
on Personal Data Protection was adopted in January 2005,
replacing a 1994 law.(4) Individuals have
a right of access to their personal data held by public
and private bodies.
Macedonia
accepted the Aarhus Convention in July 1999. The 2005 Law
on Environment provides for a right to access from government
bodies and others supervised by the state.(5)
25
JANUARY 2006
Macedonian Parliament Adopts Long-Awaited Freedom of Information
Law
On
January 25, 2006, the Parliament of Macedonia adopted a
FOI Law. The law will go into force on June 1, 2006. The
law establishes the State Commission for free access, which
would have authority to rule on complaints from individuals
about the government's refusal to provide information, after
publishing in Official Gazette of Macedonia. Free access
to information and the freedom of reception and transmission
of information are also guaranteed with the Article 16 of
the Macedonian Constitution.
The
non-governmental sector in Macedonia initiated process for
drafting FOI law in July 2003. Since that time, civil society
groups have been involved in organizing public hearing and
debates and working to acheive needed improvements in the
text of the draft law. Indeed, during this time, there were
dramatic changes made to the proposed law and its adoption
was postponed several times.
Earlier
in January 2006, however, a letter signed by 126 Macedonia
civil society organization called for the prompt adoption
of the proposed law but also expressed several concerns
about the provisions of the new law, including:
The
law does not claim final authority in matters of freedom
of information, and is vulnerable to being eclipsed by
secrecy laws, such as the Classified Information Law.
Plans
to establish a commission charged with hearing appeals
and promoting implementation of the law have been dropped
in favour of adjudication in the regular court system.
Experience across many countries shows that an independent
administrative complaints mechanism is essential to the
effective functioning of an access to information system;
court procedures are simply too lengthy and costly for
the vast majority of potential information complainants.
The
law does not contain a clear "harm test", which
would stipulate that requests for information should never
be refused unless disclosure would pose a serious risk
of actual harm.
The
law does not guarantee protection of whistleblowers
Unfortunately
the concerns of the civil society were not taken into account
when drafting the final version of the Law that passed the
parliament. NGOs and FOI activists push for changes to the
Law and hope that the Macedonian Parliament will adopt it
taking into consideration their remarks and recommendations.
Meanwhile, Macedonia remains the only country in the region
that has not adopted a Freedom of Information Law.
1)
Voice and Accountability: -0.02
2) Political Instability and Violence: -1.04
3) Government Effectiveness: -0.17
4) Regulatory Burden: -0.19
5) Rule of Law: -0.44
6) Control of Corruption: -0.52
