OSCE Mission to Skopje supports new Commission on free access to information
The OSCE Spillover Monitor Mission to Skopje, which closely monitored the adoption of the new law, now supports the Commission and other experts in the implementation process. In this interview, Nikolovski spoke to Maria Dotsenko, Press and Public Information/Media Development Officer with the OSCE Mission, about the Commission's work.
Could you tell us why the Commission was created and what are its responsibilities and objectives?
The Commission is a completely independent state institution with our own budget and we report annually to the Parliament. Our main task is to oversee the implementation of the new law and to guide those involved in the implementation process. We have focused our efforts on increasing the transparency of all public structures and raising citizens' awareness on how they can freely exercise their right to free access to information.
Every public institution should have a person who is authorized to look after the institution's information and provide it to those who seek it. The Commission works closely with these information holders. Their efforts to ensure this crucial democratic right is upheld are a vital contribution to the reform of public administration. We help them to ensure that all requests for access to public information are processed strictly according to the law. We also review appeals on those requests for information that are denied.
Our responsibility is to achieve full implementation of the constitutional right to free access to information, so that we have informed citizens who participate in the political system, and who are better able to monitor the politicians. This will help to foster greater public trust in the system, as well as ensuring that politicians and authorities are held accountable.
Although the adoption of the new law is considered a major step forward, only the implementation stage, which started in September 2006, will show whether or not the authorities can truly guarantee free access to public information. Where does the country stand with regard to implementation?
I share the opinion that implementation is a key issue. It is very difficult to see the full picture after only seven months, but we are proud to say that the law is alive and well. Many, although not all, municipalities and public institutions have already appointed information holders, who are reporting back to us on their activities. We have analysed the data and submitted our annual report to the Parliament.
Our work involves travelling around the country and briefing municipalities and communities on the specifics of the law. Many citizens already know about the law and are interested in learning more about it.
Luckily we are not alone. The impetus that we needed in the very beginning came from the project on strengthening free access to information, which was funded by the OSCE Mission and implemented by the local organization Pro Media. With their support, we successfully trained the members of the Commission and our professional staff and also distributed two sets of handbooks on free access to information: one for the holders of information and another for those requesting it. All of that was funded by OSCE and implemented by experts from Pro Media and the Commission itself.
But the funding was not the most important thing. For the Commission, the interest and encouragement which we received from the OSCE Mission and from Pro Media and the Open Society Institute was what mattered most.
What are the main challenges you face during implementation of the new law? Do you get adequate support from your local counterparts?
The biggest challenge is the complexity of the law. According to the Council of Europe's 2002 recommendations on access to official documents, the law encompasses not just the executive authorities, but also legislators and the judiciary, as well as public enterprises and all physical and legal persons with public authorization. This means that there are a large number of information holders in our country. So far, we have registered more than 1,500.
Another challenge is the overlap between the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Character and the Laws on Classified Information and on Private Data Protection. The Law on Free Access to Information should be primus inter pares. There are some gaps and discrepancies between these laws, which we are currently analyzing.
Although we receive a lot of support from the two NGOs I mentioned earlier, other organizations need to get more involved in promoting this most fundamental of rights, which safeguards transparency and accountability in our country. Media professionals can do a lot to promote the right to free access to information. We have good co-operation with them, but there is always room for improvement.
The new law and the Commission are among the youngest in the region. Do you have any contacts with your counterparts in other countries?
Together with Pro Media, we organized a successful roundtable in Skopje in November last year, which was supported jointly by the OSCE Mission and the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media. Experts from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia shared best practices and lessons learned with us. We use what we learned in our everyday work and are in constant contact with the other institutions and experts who participated.
What are your plans for the rest of the year?
We have ambitious plans for a nationwide public information campaign in all media in co-operation with the Embassy of the United Kingdom and the OSCE Mission and our local partners.
We will continue to co-operate with the UK Embassy, the OSCE and the civil society on training of information holders. We will train trainers, who will then teach information holders about their role in implementing the law in their respective regions and institutions.
At the same time, we will continue testing the law on unclear regulations. We will continue to focus on everyday activities like the processing of citizens' requests and appeals, co-operation with civil society and international organizations. We will also be working on updating our databases of information holders, lists of documents and state officials.
Further information about the Commission is available on its web site at http://sinf.gov.mk