International Freedom of Expression Exchange: The global network for free expression
18 January 2006
MACEDONIA URGED TO STRENGTHEN DRAFT TRANSPARENCY LAW
ARTICLE 19 is putting pressure on the Macedonian government over a proposed law it says contains "serious flaws" that must be speedily addressed if citizens are to gain the right to access information held by public bodies.
The IFEX member says the proposed Law on Free Access to Information, which is under parliamentary review, fails to meet international standards on access to information. I
n a joint letter to Macedonian authorities, ARTICLE 19 and three Macedonian civil society groups said the draft legislation, if enacted in its current form, would allow the government to reject information requests by invoking existing secrecy laws, such as the Classified Information Law.
The draft law would also place responsibility on the courts to handle appeals from individuals who had been denied information, a lengthy and costly process that could be avoided if an independent complaints commission was established, the groups said. The draft law would not protect civil servants who could be wrongfully dismissed for blowing the whistle on government corruption or wrongdoing.
More than two years have passed since the draft law was first proposed, and in that time, Macedonia has become the only country in Southeast Europe that has yet to enact access to information legislation, notes ARTICLE 19.
A recent report by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Representative on Freedom of the Media says the lack of a law on access to information "deprives journalism of the legal security needed to perform its public function."
For updates on the draft law, visit:
http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/204/
Visit these links:
- ARTICLE 19 Analysis of Draft Law: http://tinyurl.com/7amkg
- OSCE Report on Macedonia:
http://www.osce.org/documents/html/pdftohtml/17446_en.pdf.html
- Human Rights Watch Backgrounder:
http://hrw.org/english/docs/2005/01/13/macedo9875.htm
- Freedom House: http://tinyurl.com/9ouhr
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10152&Valider=OK
- International Press Institute:
http://www.freemedia.at/wpfr/Europe/macedoni.htm
- EU Report on Macedonia:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/enlargement/report_2005/#fyrom
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