Some of the provisions of the Law on Access to Information are outdated or easily interpretable. Furthermore, even if such a normative document exists, many of the journalists complain about secrecy. The need to amend the given law was discussed in a press club meeting staged by the Independent Journalism Center on September 23, IPN reports.
The Law on Access to Information was adopted in 2000. “The most important amendments made to the law had a negative impact on the access to information because they were made when the Law on Personal Data Protection appeared. Changes were made on the pretext of needing to adjust a number of provisions to this law. As a result, there are numerous complaints about the blocking of access to personal information,” said jurist and specialist in media legislation Olivia Pirtac.
Lawyer Tatiana Puiu, who also specialized in media matters, said the ambiguity of the provisions and the too long periods for providing information are the most frequent deficiencies in the functioning of this law. “We were the first in the CIS to adopt this law. When it was passed, the law met all the European standards. Dissatisfaction with this law appeared mainly amid journalists because it contains provisions that can be interpreted and unclear terms and does not make a clear difference between ‘petition’ and ‘request for information’. The information is provided within 15 workdays. Usually, the public servants profit from this long period and furnish information on the last day. I think the period must be reduced to 10 calendar days,” stated Tatiana Puiu.
“I think the new amendments, if they are made, should clearly provide the period for providing information. If the data are available, these should be provided immediately. If the institution needs to collect the information, it should notify the applicant of this,” said Lilia Zaharia, investigation journalist at the Association of Independent Press.
The press club meeting also discussed the need to penalize public functionaries who do not answer journalists’ requests.
The event was attended by journalists, representatives of state institutions and civil society, university lectures and students.
