Bulgaria
What's New
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15 July 2011
The Access to Information Programme (AIP) in Bulgaria has identified persistent problems facing those seeking government information and made a series of recommendations.
The eleventh annual report containing the information — Access to Information in Bulgaria 2010 – is now…
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16 May 2011
The Access to Information Programme in Bulgarian has found “a chaotic variety” of structures and information on government websites.
The audit was designed to evaluate the implementation of the obligations under the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) for online…
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freedom of information: overview
Article 41 of the Bulgarian Constitution of 1991 states:
(1) Everyone shall be entitled to seek, receive and impart information. This right shall not be exercised to the detriment of the rights and reputation of others, or to the detriment of national security, public order, public health and morality.
(2) Citizens shall be entitled to obtain information from state bodies and agencies on any matter of legitimate interest to them which is not a state or other secret prescribed by law and does not affect the rights of others.
In 1996, the Constitutional Court ruled that the Article 41 of the Constitution gives the right to information to any person, however, the right needed to be set out by legislation. There were a number of lower court cases that rejected requests by citizens and NGOs to obtain information.
The Access to Public Information Act (APIA) was enacted in June 2000. The law allows for any person or legal entity to demand access to information in any form held by state institutions and other entities funded by the state budget and exercising public functions. Requests can be verbal or written and must be processed within 14 days.
LEARN MORE: in-depth overview | news archive | further reading | excerpt from Global Survey
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17 December 2010
A Bulgarian court Nov. 11 compelled the release of minutes of a meeting between President Georgi Parvanov and former Russian President Vladimir Putin held in January 2008.
The complaint was brought by the journalist Lachezar Lisicov with the help of…
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14 April 2009
Over the past few months, the World Bank has recently published a series of extremely useful reports by experts on access to information laws. Using comparative case studies, together these reports provide an overview of the whole life cycle of access to information (ATI) legislation, from adoption to implementation and enforcement. One report examines the role of civil society groups in the formulation and adoption of access to information laws in Bulgaria, India, Mexico, South Africa and the United Kingdom. Another examines the institutional and logistical nuts-and-bolts of implementation, using Mexico as a case study, while the third report looks at models of enforcement in several countries: South Africa, Mexico, Scotland, India, and Hungary.
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28 September 2008
Washington, D.C., September 28, 2008 – Today’s celebration of International Right-to-Know Day marks a new watershed in the global reach of freedom of information laws – now on the books in more than 80 countries – and features celebrations in…
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21 May 2007
Today, members the International Freedom of Information Advocates Network sent a letter to the Bulgarian National Assembly opposing draft amendments to the Bulgarian access to information law accepted by the Assembly earlier this month. Sixty-eight organizations and individuals from 37…
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22 September 2006
UPDATE – 11 OCTOBER 2006
In response to a subsequent HCLU request, the Hungarian National Security Superintendence recently released an additional, previously secret NATO document entitled “Directive on the Security of Information,” dated 2005. The directive, enacted in support of NATO…
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28 September 2005
Since 2002, freedom of information advocates around the world have been working together to promote the right of access to information for all people and recognize the benefits of transparent and accountable governments. We use this day as a way…
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16 June 2004
Changes in the information regime in Bulgaria have been slow and incremental since the fall of the communists in 1989. But the work of the Access to Information Programme, an NGO that has been at the forefront of the freedom…
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11 October 2003
by Thomas Blanton
The International Herald Tribune, October 11, 2003, p. 6
Last month (September 23, 2003), Armenia became the 51st country in the world to guarantee its citizens the right to know what their government is up to. Armenia’s…
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21 January 2003
The Bulgarian online news resource, novinite.com reports that the Sofia police, on orders of the district governor, have helped the newly formed State Commission on Information Security take over the offices of the so-called Andreev Commission, which was set up…
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15 July 2002
By Thomas Blanton
Published in Foreign Policy, July/August 2002
During the last decade, 26 countries have enacted new legislation giving their citizens access to government information. Why? Because the concept of freedom of information is evolving from a moral indictment…
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1 June 2002
Some 20 countries are about to embark on pilot programs with the World Bank in which they will disclose and disseminate more information than they have in the past – that is, more than what Bank policy currently requires.
The…
