Final protocol adopted at Freedom of Information workshop in Armenia

YEREVAN, 28 January 2002 - The need for Freedom of Information legislation in Armenia was the main focus of discussion during a workshop co-organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan on 24 and 25 January. The workshop reviewed the situation with regard to access to information from both the legislative and practical points of view.

In the course of the workshop, participants examined the existing legislation on access to information, availability of the judicial information (court decisions), access to information in the regions and in local self-governing bodies. Practical examples of court cases (on violation of access to information) and the work of the Freedom of Information Centre were discussed.

Henrik Danielian, Chairman of the Court of Cassation, expressed concern about the lack of legal awareness among the population at large and the need for mechanisms and procedures to improve the process of providing information to citizens. Lack of financial, legislative and human resources to facilitate provision of information to citizens were emphasized by Government representatives. Use of information technologies was also pointed to as a possible way of improving access to Government information.

Most of the second day of the workshop was devoted to discussion of the new draft law on Freedom of Information, initiated by two members of Parliament and four non-governmental organizations. A panel of experts from the Council of Europe, COLPI (Budapest), Bulgaria and the USA presented their experience, shared their views on the draft and introduced basic international principles in this field.

In the last session of the workshop, a protocol of the event was discussed and agreed with participants. Major problems were identified and future actions in this area suggested. The workshop participants stressed the importance of adopting special legislation on freedom of information, which would ensure the constitutional right of citizens to information and would set down mechanisms of facilitating access. Work on this subject will now continue.

About 120 participants including high-ranking representatives from the Government, National Assembly, judiciary, civil society, mass media, international/diplomatic organizations attended the event, which was co-organized by the OSCE Office in Yerevan, the Freedom of Information Centre (under the Association of Investigative Journalists), and ABA/CEELI (USAID).