PODGORICA, 14.04.2020. – The formal deadline for commenting on a new regulations in the Free Access to Information Act expired yesterday. Ministry of Public Administration announced video consultations with everyone who submitted the proposals, and still remained in the position to hold a public hearing during the corona virus epidemic.
Thus, nearly 50 non-governmental organizations, numerous journalists, as well as international organizations dealing with public administration transparency, remained unanswered by the appeal to postpone the debate while the current epidemiological situation was ongoing.
Civil organizations have repeatedly appealed to the Minister of Public Administration, Suzana Pribilovic, and then to Prime Minister Dusko Markovic.
“In a situation where the peak of the corona virus epidemic and the atmosphere of uncertainty is expected to be higher than ever, it is necessary for citizens to have full confidence in the institutions of the state, and fake news can have huge consequences. Therefore, we expected that the Government would work to increase the openness of institutions, in cooperation with the media and the non-governmental sector, instead of creating conditions to hide even more information in there situation”, it is said in apeal.
According to them, the decision of the Ministry to put the Law on Free Access to Information public hearing right now does not contribute to the confidence of citizens in the work of the Government.
“This law has been sharply criticized by journalists, NGO activists and foreign experts, and the European Commission has repeatedly pointed to the poor legal framework and even worse practice of institutions.”
As they said, they do not see that it is expedient to hold consultations on such important issues with a video link in such a situation when the Assembly does not hold sessions, so they again called for it to be postponed until everything returns to normal.
They emphasize that this version of the amendments to the law contains numerous norms which, contrary to the Constitution and standards, restrict citizens’ rights to information held by state bodies, and in particular limit the work of investigative journalists and the non-governmental sector.
“The proposed changes allow institutions to hide even more information than before, and on the eve of elections, political parties are eliminated from the obligation to publish information on all finances. It is not prescribed what can be subject to business or tax secrets and under what conditions information exchanged with other countries or international organizations can be hidden. At the same time, courts and prosecutor’s offices are allowed to hide all information about court proceedings and investigations”, the signatory of the appeal said.
The debate on the Law at the time of the epidemic, they believe, in no way fits in with the ongoing dialogue within the “Alliance for Europe” and completely negates all that is presented as the aim of the initiative.
