Government to provide free online access to all documents published in past 16 years

The government will provide free online access to all legislative and normative documents published after June 23, 1990, and updated acts in the messier of amendments and completions. The parliament passed amendments to the law on publication and enforcement of legislative documents on Friday, March 10, in the second reading. Also, the government will table proposals to the parliament within three months regarding the adjustment of legislation in force and its normative documents to this law. The draft law was proposed for examination at the initiative of a group of lawmakers representing the Democratic Party. Moldova had an electronic database on legislation - www.docs.md, which was suspended in the mid-2005 on basis of a penal case filed by the directorate for transborder and information offences of the Interior Ministry – illegal access to electronic information. Many lawyers, journalists, civil society representatives criticised this decision, saying that the principles of unrestricted access to public information and transparency of activity of state institutions were violated through suspension of this website. Normative and legislative documents adopted in Moldova starting 1924 were available at www.docs.md.