A group of civil society organizations issued a statement asking Parliament to hold extensive consultations on the draft Law on access to information of public interest. The request comes following the Government’s approval of the bill developed by the Ministry of Justice, which aims to replace the existing Law on access to information in order to align the legislation with international standards.
The CSOs found that both the process of developing and promoting the bill, as well as its content, has deficiencies and reiterated the need to continue debates and consultations on the document. “We call on the legislature to show openness and a constructive approach to the recommendations from civil society organizations in the consultation process and to ensure that the draft law is adjusted accordingly”, reads the statement.
While, according to the Ministry of Justice, the bill had been worked on for more than a year and was publicly consulted, the CSOs say the consultations were limited and sporadic, and the bill was promoted in a hurry, with key recommendations ignored. Moreover, the selective acceptance of recommendations led to provisions that make the situation of information requesters worse compared to both the initial iteration of the bill and the current law, say the signatory organizations.
According to civil society, some of the problematic aspects of the draft law are: the introduction of exceptions that make the criterion of proportionality inapplicable in limiting access to information; the lack of clear criteria regarding the quality and format for the proactive publication of information; the definition of public information is more restrictive than that contained in the current law; there is a lack of an effective mechanism for monitoring and implementing the law.
The signatory organizations believe that it is imperative that civil society recommendations on the draft law be heard in order to remedy the existing loopholes that limit citizens’ access to information of public interest before its vote in Parliament.
The signatories include: the Center for Policies and Reforms (CPR Moldova), Terra-1530, the WatchDog.MD Community, the Center for Policies, Initiatives and Research "Platforma", Active Communities for Participatory Democracy, the Association for Efficient and Responsible Governance AGER, the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), the Promo-LEX Association, the Center for Independent Journalism, Primaria Mea, Save Chisinau Association, the Legal Resources Center of Moldova (CRJM).