Moldova’s legislation needs to be supplemented so that it is compliant with the global national security principles and the right to information. The public must take part in the process of adopting and reviewing the procedures for classifying information and documents. Such suggestions are contained in the “Report on the compatibility of the legislation of the Republic of Moldova with the global national security principles and the right to information” that was compiled by experts of the Institute of Public Policy (IPP), IPN reports.

The experts recommend accurately defining the national security conception in the legislation of Moldova and the categories of information to which access should not be restricted in case of a state or emergency and war. They warn about low transparency in the process of approving internal regulations and about the lack of procedures that would comply with the international practices for challenging decisions to classify particular documents.

The report shows that there are no legal provisions in Moldova that would regulate the de-classifying of information when the set terms expire. A shortcoming is also the lack of the obligation to present a clear motivation for the refusal to present classified information.

The experts revealed that there is no practice of protecting public disclosures. They recommend establishing such practices at legal level, when some of the institutions or their employees can inform the monitoring bodies or public opinion about abuses.

The report was produced on the initiative and with the financial support of the Justice Program of Soros Foundation Moldova.