Translated material
Power in the access area
Russia will finally have a law on information openness of government agencies
After six years of development and two years of consideration by the Federal Assembly, Russia will finally have a law on information accessibility of government agencies. On Wednesday, the State Duma approved the bill in the third reading, now it’s up to the Federation Council and the president. The law should come into force on January 1, 2010. However, this law will not only facilitate the dissemination of information, but also protect citizens themselves from excessive disclosure of information.The head of the department of state regulation in the economy of the Ministry of Economic Development, Andrei Sharov, yesterday called the law “On ensuring access to information on the activities of state bodies and local governments” fundamental for the country. Now, according to the minister, citizens are increasingly writing to government agencies “either complaints or rationalization proposals.” Starting next year, the new law will significantly expand opportunities for communication with government agencies. From January 1, anyone can contact any executive body at any level - “from the very top (of the government) to the municipality in a small village" - with a request to provide him with a copy of any document on an issue of interest.
“This will no longer be a certificate, not a response to a request, but a copy of a protocol, a regulatory act, everything containing the information a citizen needs,” explained Mr. Sharov. In other countries, the “nickname” of such laws has already been established - “on public curiosity”, because there is no need to justify why a person needed the information.
But curiosity, although not a vice, cannot be free, therefore, again based on the experience of other countries, the maximum amount of information provided free of charge will be introduced. This will apply only to paper media, and the limit may be one author’s sheet (approximately 24 printed), beyond which you will need to pay for copying information at a uniform rate for the entire country. At the same time, the information itself will remain free. There will be no charge for recording information on electronic media.
The Ministry of Economic Development is confident that the implementation of the law will not require significant expenses, everything will be done within the limits of the staffing schedule of government agencies. Moreover, the amount of working time spent on processing citizens’ requests will decrease in proportion to the saturation of government websites. The new law also imposes obligations on each executive body to maintain and promptly update the content of websites.
The law establishes a response period for a request of 30 days and 45 for complex requests. Time limits will also be introduced within which departments are required to post all possible documents for free access. For example, information important for life and health will be published on the websites of departments immediately, and draft laws aimed at approval by various authorities will be published within up to three days.
However, although the law provides citizens with maximum opportunities to satisfy their curiosity, it still protects them from unnecessary information. This will include all information classified as “official”, “medical”, “state” secrets and the like. In addition, internal documents of ministries and departments are highlighted - the law does not apply to them until they go beyond the boundaries of their home institution. As soon as a document is officially sent to another government agency, it immediately falls under the new law and can (and sometimes must) be made public.
The authorities' response can be appealed - first in pre-trial proceedings, and then in court. Moreover, you can appeal both a refusal to provide information and the disclosure of any information, for example personal information.
Andrei Sharov hopes that the law will help the government become “more predictable and respected.”