OSCE-supported seminar for journalists and NGO representatives on implementation of Free Access to Information Law held in Bijelo Polje
A seminar on the implementation of the Free Access to Information Act (FOIA), supported by the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, took place on 23 July 2015 in Bijelo Polje.
It gathered journalists from local media and NGO representatives with the aim to introduce participants with the provisions of the Law and experience in its implementation, as well as to raise awareness about the right to access information.
Montenegrin Human Resources Management Agency representative, Blazenka Dabanovic, Council of the Agency for Data Protection representative, Aleksa Ivanovic, and former NGO MANS programme coordinator, Milena Kovacevic lectured at the seminar.
Participants discussed about the competencies of relevant institutions related to the Law on FOIA, public interest and personal data protection, deadlines and costs of the procedures and legal mechanisms introduced by the Law. They also presented numerous case studies which then were discussed with the experts.
Dabanovic emphasized the importance of the discussion and the opportunity to learn about practical implementation of the Law on FOAI as well as experiences regarding submission of the requests processing.
This seminar is part of a project funded by Switzerland, Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Czech Republic.