13 March 2001
NEW SECRECY LAW THREATENS FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
The Romanian parliament passed a worrying new state secrets law on 7 March, reports ARTICLE 19. In a February 2001 analysis of the draft law, ARTICLE 19 said the law's restrictions on freedom of expression "go far beyond what is necessary to protect state secrets in a democratic society" and conflict with international standards on freedom of expression and access to information. ARTICLE 19's main concern is the scope of the draft law, which restricts a wide range of information and uses definitions which are "overly broad and vague." The law also provides a blanket ban on certain categories of information, without taking into account whether the harm from disclosure outweighs the public benefit. Among other concerns is the lack of protection for source confidentiality.
ARTICLE 19 believes that the law could be abused to protect the government from embarrassment, avoid exposure of wrongdoing, or conceal information about the functioning of public institutions. It would also "fatally undermine" a proposed freedom of information law. ARTICLE 19 notes that there is still time to stop the legislation, since the Constitutional Court and President have to sanction the document for it to become law. An analysis of the law is available at http://www.article19.org/docimages/962.htm.
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