2004
freedominfo.org Global Survey Results - Romania
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 31 of the Constitution guarantees the right of the public to access information of a public interest:
A person's right of access to any information of public interest cannot be restricted. The public authorities, according to their competence, shall be bound to provide for correct information to citizens on public affairs and matters of personal interest. The right to information shall not be prejudicial to the protection of the young or to national security. (1)
The Law Regarding Free Access to Information of Public Interest was approved in October 2001. (2) The implementing regulations of the law state, "free and unrestrained access to information of public interest shall be the rule and limitation of access shall be the exemption." (3) It allows for any person to ask for information from public authorities and state companies. The authorities must respond in 10 days.
There are exemptions for national security, public safety and public order, deliberations of authorities, commercial or financial interests, personal information, proceedings during criminal or disciplinary investigations, judicial proceedings, and information "prejudicial to the measures of protecting the youth."
Those denied can appeal to the agency concerned or to a court. Public employees can be disciplined for refusing to disclose information.
Authorities must also publish a wide variety of basic information about their structures and activities including their register of "documents in the public interest."
According to the Ministry of Public Information, there were 335, 058 requests in the first year of the Act, of which 72 percent were oral requests and 28 percent were written. Six percent of the requests were denied which resulted in 1,217 complaints and 394 court cases. (4)
The law was developed in cooperation between the Ministry of Public Information (which was merged into the Agency for Government Strategies in June 2003), civil society organizations and opposition parties. (5) Agencies are required to set up specialized divisions to deal with the act.
There is concern about the implementation of the law. The Association for the Defense of Human Rights in Romania-Helsinki Committee (APADOR-CH) sued Prosecutor-General Joita Tanase in June 2003 after he refused to follow a court decision to release a report on the number of wiretaps in Romania. (6) APADOR has also made a detailed list of recommended changes needed to the Act and other related laws to improve access. Those changes include modifying the Ministry of Information, giving the FOI law primary effect over other laws, limiting exemptions, and revising the Classified Information, Archive and Data Protection Acts. (7)
The 1999 Law on the Access to the Personal File and the Disclosure of the Securitate as a Political Police allows Romanian citizens to access their Securitate (secret police) files. (8) It also allows public access to the files of those aspiring for public office and other information relating to the activities of the Securitate. The law set up the National Council for the Search of Security Archives (CNSAS) to administer the archives. (9) There was an extended crisis in 2002 over the council after it said it would publish the names of the former members of the Securitate. The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2000 that the Romanian Intelligence Service retention and use of Securitate files that falsely accused a person of being a member of a fascist party fifty years before was a violation of the ECHR. (10)
The Law on Protecting Classified Information was enacted in April 2002 at the behest of NATO. (11) The drafters used an expansive view of classification that will limit access to records under the access to information law. Most egregiously, it creates a level of classification called "office secret", which is defined as any information that could affect the interest of a legal person, be it private or state owned, which cannot be appealed. Employees are now being vetted and those who spied under the communist regime will be denied access. (12) It created an Office of the National Registry of State Secret Information to keep the registers of secret information. The National Authority for Security maintains the controls on NATO information.
The Law on Decisional Transparency in Public Administration was approved in December 2002 and went into effect in April 2003. It requires meetings of government bodies and information about pending activities of government bodies be automatically disclosed and citizens be invited to participate in decisions. (13)
The Law on Certain Steps for Assuring Transparency in Performing High Official Positions, Public and Business Positions, for Prevention and Sanctioning the Corruption was approved in 2003. It includes sections requiring that access to electronic information and government is improved through the creation of a "National Computerized System" and the names of tax delinquents are published. (14)
The Law on Protection of Persons concerning the Processing of Personal Data and the Free Circulation of Such Data allows individuals to access and correct personal information held by public or private bodies. (15) It is enforced by the Private Information Protection Office of the Ombudsman's Office. (16)
The Law on National Archives sets rules on access to information in archives. Information can be withheld for up to 100 years. (17)
Romania signed the Aarhus Convention in June 1998 and ratified it in July 2000. (18) Governmental Decision no. 1115/2002 on free access to environmental information sets rules on access.
Notes
1. Constitution of Romania. http://domino.kappa.ro/guvern/constitutia-e.html
2. The Law Regarding the Free Access to the Information of Public Interest, http://www.ijnet.org/fe_article/MediaLaw.asp?UILang=1&CID=25335
3. Decision on Methodological Norms of Putting into Force Law No. 544/2001 on Free Access to Information of Public Interest, http://pi.greennet.org.uk/countries/romania/foia-implementation.pdf
4. Raport Privind Aplicarea Legii Nr. 544/2001. http://www.publicinfo.ro/INITIAT/RAPORT%20SINTEZA%20544%20FINAL.pps (in Romanian)
5. Ministry of Information Homepage: http://www.publicinfo.ro/
6. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 7, No. 115, Part II, 19 June 2003.
7. See APADOR, Limits of Access to Information in Romania - The Necessity of Certain Legislative Correlations.
8. Law No. 189/7 December 1999 on the access to the personal file and the disclosure of the Securitate as a political police, http://www.cnsas.ro/. See Ioana Borza, Decommunization in Romania: A Case Study of the State Security Files Access Law http://www.polito.ubbcluj.ro/EAST/East6/borza.htm
9. Homepage: http://www.cnsas.ro/
10. Rotaru v Romania (App no 28341/95), 8 BHRC 449, 4 May 2000.
11. Law no. 182 of April 12th, 2002 on the protection of classified information. Published in the Official Gazette, Part I no. 248 of April 12th 2002. http://www.privacyinternational.org/countries/romania/classified-info-law-02.doc. See Government of Romania, Agenda of Preparations for NATO Membership: Progress and Priorities - Midterm Review-. http://domino.kappa.ro/mae/home.nsf/Toate/nato/$File/annex24.html
12. RFE/RL NEWSLINE Vol. 6, No. 90, Part II, 15 May 2002
13. Law no.52 of January 21st, 2003 regarding the decisional transparency in the public administration. http://www.transparency.ro/doc/ghid_transparenta_eng.pdf
14. Law on Certain Steps for Assuring Transparency in Performing High Official Positions, Public and Business Positions, for Prevention and Sanctioning the Corruption, http://www.sigmaweb.org/dataoecd/34/15/35015795.pdf
15. Law no. 677/2001 for the Protection of Persons concerning the Processing of Personal Data and Free Circulation of Such Data. http://www.avp.ro/leg677en.html
16. Home Page: http://www.avp.ro/
17. Law no. 16/1996 on the National Archives.