On 12 April, the Government approved the draft Law on access to information of public interest and passed it to the Parliament. Many civil society organisations (CSOs) expressed dissatisfaction with the consultation process organised by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in a public statement. According to the statement, the consultations organised by MoJ were limited and sporadic, the draft being promoted in a hurry, without taking into account the key recommendations of civil society representatives. The signing CSOs requested the Parliament:
- To organise broad and representative consultations on the draft Law on the parliamentary platform;
- To be open and have a constructive approach to the recommendations coming from CSOs in the consultation process;
- To revise the draft Law in accordance with the objections and proposals of CSOs.
On 2 May, the Parliament held the first consultation meeting on the draft Law. The CSO representatives expressed criticism and concerns regarding the provisions, specifically regarding:
- The definition of public information, considered to be more restrictive than in the current law;
- The introduction of exceptions that make the criterion of proportionality inapplicable in limiting access to information;
- Lack of clear quality and format criteria for the proactive publication of information;
- Lack of an effective mechanism for monitoring and implementing the law;
- Too long terms for accessing information, especially in the case of journalists.
According to the legislative procedure, the Parliament will vote the version proposed by the MoJ in the first reading. Between the first and second readings the Parliament can make changes based on CSO proposals.