2004 freedominfo.org Global Survey Results - Belgium
Text from the freedominfo.org Global Survey: Freedom of Information and Access to Government Records Around the World, by David Banisar (updated 12 May 2004)

Article 32 of the Constitution was amended in 1993 to include a right of access to documents held by the government:

Everyone has the right to consult any administrative document and to have a copy made, except in the cases and conditions stipulated by the laws, decrees, or rulings referred to in Article 134. (1)

The constitutional right is implemented on the federal level by the 1994 law on the right of access to administrative documents held by federal public authorities. (2) The acts allow individuals to ask in writing for access to any document held by executive authorities and can include documents in judicial files. (3) The law also includes a right to have the document explained. Government agencies must respond immediately or within thirty days if the request is delayed or rejected. Each decision must include information on the process of appealing and name the civil servant handing the dossier.

There are three categories of exemptions. In the first category, information must be withheld unless the public interest in releasing it is more important. This applies to documents relating to public security, fundamental rights, international relations, public order, security and defense, investigations into criminal matters, commercially confidential information and the name of a whistleblower. The second category provides for mandatory exceptions for personal privacy, a legal requirement for secrecy, and the secrecy of deliberations of federal government authorities. The third category provides for discretionary exemptions if the document is vague, misleading or incomplete, related to an opinion given freely on a confidential basis, or the request is abusive or vague. The two first categories of exceptions are applicable on all administrative bodies; the third category applies only to federal administrative bodies. Under the 2000 amendments, documents relating to environmental matters cannot be withheld under exemptions in the first category and those in the second category made secret under another law. Documents obtained under the law cannot be used or distributed for commercial purposes.

Citizens can appeal denials of information requests to the administrative agency which asks for advice from the Commission d'accès aux documents administratifs. The Commission issues advisory opinions both on request and on its own initiative. The Commission received 106 requests for advice in 2002 and 103 in 2001. Requestors can then make a limited judicial appeal to the Counsel of State.

The Act also requires that each federal public authority provide a description of their functions and organization. Each authority must have an information officer.

Access to environmental information is incorporated in the legislation. The 2000 amendments to the Act apply the act to the 1990 EU Directive on Environment. Belgium signed the Aarhus Convention in 1998 and ratified it in January 2001.

The Parliament adopted a law on the security of information in 1998. (4) It creates three levels of classification: Top Secret, Secret and Confidential. It exempts classified information from access under the 1994 Act.

The Law on Protection of Personal Data gives individuals the right to access and correct files about themselves held by public and private bodies. (5) It is enforced by the Data Protection Commission. (6) For administrative documents that contain personal information, access is handed under the 1994 access law.

There are also laws implementing access rules at the regional, community and municipal levels. (7)

Notes

1. Constitution of Belgium, 1994. http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/be00000_.html. See Frankie Schram, "Executive Transparency in Belgium", Freedom of Information Review, No 95, October 2001. According to an analysis by Professor Frankie Schram, this was broadly envisioned in the traveaux préparatoires to include a wide range of documents in any form held by and executive authority.

2. Loi du 11 avril 1994 relative à la publicité de l'administration. Modifee par Loi 25 Juin 1998 et Loi 26 Juin 2000. http://www.privacyinternational.org/countries/belgium/loi-publicite.rtf

3. Schram Id.

4. Loi relative à la classification et aux habilitations de sécurité, 11 décembre 1998.

5. Loi relative à la protection des données à caractère personnel du 8 décembre 1992. http://www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri/itl/12privacylaw.php

6. Homepage: http://www.privacy.fgov.be/

7. la loi du 12 novembre 1997 relative à la publicité de l'administration dans les provinces et les communes. http://users.swing.be/sw086276/info/L_12_11_1997.htm