JANUARY
2005
Kharkiv Group for Human Rights Protection (KHPG) Open Letter
to President Andriyovych Challenges "Illegal Classification"
In its January
2005 letter, KHPG called for the declassification and
publication of Presidential decrees and other Resolutions
that have been concealed under the illegal stamps "For
official use only," "Not to be printed,"
"Not to be published." KHPG contends that these
stamps have been used to "conceal information about
the corruption of high-ranking officials and those executive
bodies which serve them, these being the State Administration
of Affairs, the Constitutional Court, the High Council of
Justice etc." More
>>
The
1996 Constitution does not include a specific general right
of access to information but contains a general right of
freedom of collect and disseminate information and rights
of access to personal and environmental information. Article
34 states that "Everyone has the right to freely collect,
store, use and disseminate information by oral, written
or other means of his or her choice." Article 32 states
that "Every citizen has the right to examine information
about himself or herself, that is not a state secret or
other secret protected by law, at the bodies of state power,
bodies of local self-government, institutions and organisations."
Article 50 states that "Everyone is guaranteed the
right of free access to information about the environmental
situation, the quality of food and consumer goods, and also
the right to disseminate such information. No one shall
make such information secret."
•
Undernourished people (% of total population),
2000/03: 3
•
Population with sustainable access to an improved
water source (%), 2002: 98
Source:
UN Development Program, Human Development Reports
Data
The
1992 Law on Information is a general information policy
framework law that includes a citizen's a right to access
information. It sets 5 principles:
guaranteed
right to information;
transparency,
accessibility, and freedom of information exchange;
unbiased
and authentic information;
complete
and accurate information;
legitimacy
of receipt, use, distribution and storage of information.
The
law allows citizens and legal entities to request access
to official documents. The request can be oral or written.
The government body must respond in 10 calendar days and
provide the information within a month unless provided by
law.
Documents
can be withheld if they contain state secrets, confidential
information, information on law-enforcement authorities
or investigations, personal information, interdepartmental
correspondence for policy decisions prior to the final decision,
information protected by another law, and information on
fiscal institutions.
Denials
can be appealed to a higher level at the agency concerned
and then to a court.
Government
bodies are required to set up information services, systems,
networks, databases and data banks to facilitate information
needs.
Citizens
are also given rights to access their personal information
and know what is being collected by whom and for what reasons.
They can also demand its correction and limits on its use.
Appeals of this are to a court.
A
review of the law by the OSCE/Council of Europe described
it as "confusing" and noted problems with the
lack of a definition of official information and overly
discretional exemptions. The OECD's Anti-Corruption Network
for Transition Economies recommended in January 2004 that
the Government improve the functioning of the law:
In
the area of access to information and open government, consider
creating an independent office of an Information Commissioner
to receive appeals under the "Law on Information",
conduct investigations, and make reports and recommendations.
Consider adopting a Public Participation Law that provides
citizens with an opportunity to use information to affect
government decisions.
While
President Kuchma was in power, there were significant problems
with access to information. Many regulatory acts and decisions
were regularly stamped as non-public. Since the Orange Revolution,
there have been some recent improvements. In 2005, there
were a number of minor amendments to the Law on Information,
and the Civil Code was also amended in December 2005 to
remove a provision which prohibited the collection of state
secrets or confidential information. Following a prolonged
campaign by the Kharkiv Center, the government in 2006 released
a list of decrees issued between 2001 and 2005 that had
previously been stamped "Not to be Printed" or
"Not to be Published". The Ministry of Justice
admitted that the use of the stamps was illegal. The use
of the stamps had significantly declined since the Orange
Revolution. The group is recommending amendments to the
Law on Information to better define what information can
be restricted. President Yuschenko has recently announced
that a new law will be drafted but a number of NGOs recommended
that the government focus on properly implementing the current
one.
The
1994 Law On State Secret sets broad rules on the classification
information relating to defense, foreign affairs, state
security and other areas that disclosure would cause harm
to the state. It was expanded in 1999 to cover other non-military
areas. It create three categories of protections "Specially
Important", "Top Secret" and "Secret".
Information can be classified for 30 years in the top category.
The List of Information that belongs to State Secrets (LLISS)
defines what can be classified. The LLISS was substantially
revised and expanded in 2005 but still retains many problematic
sections.
The
Law On National Archival Fund and Archival Bodies allows
for access to records once they are in the possession of
the Archives. Documents containing state secrets can be
withheld until they are declassified by the public authority.
Personal information can be withheld for 75 years.
The
Law on Access to Court Decisions was approved in December
2005. It gives a right of access to court decisions and
requires that courts create a register of all court decisions
and make it freely available via the Internet.
Ukraine
signed the Aarhus Convention in 1998 and ratified it in
November 1999. Access is under the Law on Information.
[Footnotes
for this section are currently unavailable but will be posted
the week of July 10. All footnotes and references are also
available in the full study, available
here.]
[Footnotes
for this section are currently unavailable but will be posted
the week of July 10. All footnotes and references are also
available in the full study, available
here.]
"The
law provides public access to certain government
information, usually through websites; however,
Internet access was still relatively limited both
in terms of technology and overall number of users.
Prominent government watchdogs, including former
M.P. Inna Bogoslovska, noted that the Government
posted information on the Internet only after
important decisions were made. Information on
the process by which the Government made important
decisions usually was not available to the public.
However, Bogoslovska noted that local governments
were relatively more transparent than the national
Government."
Civil
Society, Public Information and Media (rating 1-100):
77
(Moderate)
Subcategory:
Access to Information Law (rating 1-100):
74
(Moderate)
"Poor
access to government information, notwithstanding
over 100 laws and regulations guaranteeing freedom
of speech, is among the key challenges to development
of the Ukrainian civil society and a reason for
criticism by international bodies, primarily the
Council of Europe. Although the information environment
offers a steady and substantial information flow
through about 10,300 registered print media, 850
TV and radio stations and hundreds of Internet
sites, there is a lack of unbiased coverage. The
number of Internet users in Ukraine grew from
about 0.5 percent of the population in the late
1990s to 4 percent in 2003. There is a wide gap
between the kinds and quality of information required
by society and the information provided. Legal
provisions for access to information are jeopardized
by the lack of technical capacity and skills of
most state agencies to gather, process and provide
information. Relations between the media and authorities
are far from democratic standards. Notwithstanding
a number of initiatives designed to promote access
to government information, official bodies are
not sufficiently open when it comes to information
about performance of specific agencies, services
or civil servants."
1)
Voice and Accountability: -0.62
2) Political Instability and Violence: -0.27
3) Government Effectiveness: -0.67
4) Regulatory Burden: -0.48
5) Rule of Law: -0.83
6) Control of Corruption: -0.89
