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Рy23 June 2014
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Today, 23 June, the Independent Journalism Center (IJC) sent to the Parliament, the President and the Government for examination a set of proposals to amend Law no. 982-XIV of 11 May 2000 on Access to Information (Articles 15 and 16) and the Contraventions Code of Moldova no. 218-XVI of 24 October 2008 (Article 71).
The draft law aims at improving the process of registration of requests for access to information, reducing time limits for provision of information, and upgrading penalties for failure to comply with the legislation on access to information for persons responsible for providing information.
New proposals refer to optimizing the procedure of registering requests for information into a special register of requests for access to information. At the moment, these requests are registered together with petitions. Furthermore, it is proposed to reduce the time limits for provision of official information by public authorities – from “not later than 15 working days from the date of registration of the request for access to information” (as it is in the current legislation) to not more than 10 calendar days. Reduction of time limits for provision of information is justified by the implementation of the Strategic Program of Technological Modernization of Government (e-Transformation), under which some public services were digitalized, and high-performance databases were created, which simplifies the process of collection of and access to official information.
The authors of proposals find it necessary to upgrade penalties for failure to comply with legal procedures, in particular, to amend Article 71 of the Contraventions Code. Upgrading of penalties for failure to comply with the Law on Access to Information might discipline public institutions and, respectively, provide additional guarantees for uniform application of legal provisions.
Proposals were formulated on the basis of the study Mass Media Access to Information in Moldova: Problems and Perspectives, produced by the IJC experts as part of the project on Strengthening the Legal Framework regulating Mass Media in Moldova, implemented by the IJC with the financial support of Civil Rights Defenders, Sweden.
The draft law aims at improving the process of registration of requests for access to information, reducing time limits for provision of information, and upgrading penalties for failure to comply with the legislation on access to information for persons responsible for providing information.
New proposals refer to optimizing the procedure of registering requests for information into a special register of requests for access to information. At the moment, these requests are registered together with petitions. Furthermore, it is proposed to reduce the time limits for provision of official information by public authorities – from “not later than 15 working days from the date of registration of the request for access to information” (as it is in the current legislation) to not more than 10 calendar days. Reduction of time limits for provision of information is justified by the implementation of the Strategic Program of Technological Modernization of Government (e-Transformation), under which some public services were digitalized, and high-performance databases were created, which simplifies the process of collection of and access to official information.
The authors of proposals find it necessary to upgrade penalties for failure to comply with legal procedures, in particular, to amend Article 71 of the Contraventions Code. Upgrading of penalties for failure to comply with the Law on Access to Information might discipline public institutions and, respectively, provide additional guarantees for uniform application of legal provisions.
Proposals were formulated on the basis of the study Mass Media Access to Information in Moldova: Problems and Perspectives, produced by the IJC experts as part of the project on Strengthening the Legal Framework regulating Mass Media in Moldova, implemented by the IJC with the financial support of Civil Rights Defenders, Sweden.
