The 11th Media Azi Broadcast: Why does the Law on the Access to Information not work?

A study conducted two years ago by the Centre for Independent Journalism reveals that one third of State institutions do not comply with the time limits established for answering the requests for access to information, and three percent of requests submitted by journalists remain unanswered. To what extent do the lack of access or the limitations in the access to public information complicate the work of the media, particularly of the investigative journalists? Why does the law in force not work and what is the destiny of the draft law on amending the Law on the Access to Information and the Code of Administrative Offences submitted to the Parliament in March 2016? All these issues were raised in this week edition of "Media Today" broadcast, moderated by the expert Dumitru Lazur, whose guests were the journalist Anastasia Nani, editor-in-chief of Anticoruptie.md website and the member of Parliament George Mocanu, one of the drafters of the above-mentioned law.
 
The idea to amend the present Law on the Access to Information belongs to the guild of journalists, George Mocanu said. In principle, the amendments consist in the reduction of the term for information provision from 15 business days to 10 calendar days; the acceptance of electronic requests, in addition to the requests in written and verbal format; harsher penalties for offenders, the member of Parliament George Mocanu stated during the broadcast. In his opinion, one of the reasons for which the law does not work is that sanctions for failure to provide information or for provision of erroneous information are insignificant.

In her turn, the journalist Anastasia Nani mentioned that the Centre for Journalistic Investigations (CJI) sued the State institutions which refused to comply with the provisions of the Law on the Access to Information. “CJI has a broad experience in terms of lawsuits, as it has won all the cases so far. We have lost just one case in the ultimate jurisdiction, the Supreme Court of Justice, the case against the Presidency … We intend to go to the ECHR to see if we are right or wrong in the opinion of the magistrates of Strasbourg”, the broadcast’s guest said.

In this broadcast, you can also find out what reasons the public servants invoke the oftenest when they refuse to answer the requests for information submitted by journalists and to what extent it is possible that the draft law on the amendment of the Law on the Access to Information and of the Code of Administrative Offences is voted during the current session.