Armenia set forth a new law concerning a unified data policy and the state information system. The law was planned in the framework of the Open Government Partnership Armenia Action Plan for 2022-2024. The Ministry of High-Tech Industry opened the draft law “On Freedom of Information and Public Information” for a two-week public consultation on December 19, 2023. CSOs criticised the draft and demanded to regulate data policy in a separate law that will not impact the current achievements in the access to information in Armenia.
The draft law proposes extensive regulations on access to information and public data management
The proposed law aimed to replace the current Law on Freedom of Information, which regulates the terms and procedures of providing responses to information requests on national and local level, main responsibilities of information holders, possible information restrictions and rejection grounds, and proactive publication of information by state bodies. The new draft introduces more extensive regulations on access to information and public data. In addition to the issues covered by the current law, among other provisions, it provides distinct definitions for concepts of ‘information’ and ‘public information’, sets regulations on state registers and databases, and identifies the authorised body responsible for the monitoring of the law.
Though some of these provisions address the current legislative gaps, overregulation of the field might negatively affect the access to information in practice.
CSO Meter has outlined a number of challenges to access to information
The CSO Meter 2023 report identified a number of challenges in the area of access to information. Despite the ratification of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents in 2022, in practice access to information has not improved in recent years. Responses to enquiries are often delayed, rejected, or sometimes not provided at all. Further, state bodies and municipalities often fail to publish complete and timely information, while the information that is published is often in non-machine-readable PDF format, making it inaccessible for the analytical purposes of CSOs, as well as to persons with visual impairments. Additionally, the Law on State Secrecy adopted in 2023 introduced the new concept of ‘official information of limited distribution’, providing legal grounds for further potential restrictions on information. Simply classifying information as ‘official information of limited distribution’, state bodies will have a larger discretion in rejecting access to information.
The current legislation does not provide mechanisms of monitoring the implementation of the right to access to information, or an authorised body for the field. Further, as the Law on Access to Information was adopted in 2003, it does not cover modern types and formats of information, neither does it provide any requirements for ensuring access to information for people with disabilities. At the same time, the current law is generally enabling for ensuring the right to access to information, as it covers both state and local authorities, as well as private organisations providing public services. The responses to written information requests are submitted within five days of receipt, without charging fees beyond the technical costs of providing such information, and without a need for justifying an enquiry. In case additional effort is required for providing the information, this timeline extends to 30 days.
CSOs highlighted a number of problematic provisions that restrict the access to information
A number of CSOs produced critical opinions on the draft, mentioning that due to the narrowed definitions of ‘information’ and ‘public information’ the draft is generally more regressive in providing the right to access to information as compared to the existing law. Several CSOs called the government to dismiss the draft. The Freedom of Information Center of Armenia, an organisation specialised in freedom of information, expressed its concerns on the draft, noting that some terms cause misunderstandings and contradictions. Additionally, the extensive provisions and regulations in the draft are not directly related to the right to freedom of information, while the idea of an independent authorised body of freedom of information is distorted. A group of organisations working in the field of human rights and media produced a statement highlighting a number of problematic provisions such as narrower concept of public information, longer time periods for providing certain information, incompliance to international experience, and lack of provisions on providing information in accessible formats for persons with disabilities. They also found it concerning that the monitoring of the implementation of the law was placed on the state body responsible primarily for digitalisation and cyber security, with no defined guarantees of independence and autonomy.
Government is ready to improve the draft and further consult with CSOs
Based on the concerns of CSOs, on January 19, 2023, the government held a meeting with the stakeholders from state administration and civil society to discuss the concerns and recommendations on both sides. Based on the results of the discussion, the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister assigned the authors of the draft to take into account the opinions and proposals of the CSOs, and further discuss the revisions with all interested stakeholders.
CSOs recommend developing a separate law on data management, which will define the handling of public data, its classification, registration, storage, publication formats and other relevant rules and regulations. This will avoid the risks related to excessive regulations in the area of access to information, while on the other hand, the provisions of the current law require an in-depth discussion and revisions based on the positive achievements and challenges in the area.