Independent body to protect the right of access to information

epa03642358 A Chinese technician debugs a row of video surveillance cameras for pubilc safety which are assembled on a pole in the Qingdao city, eastern China's Shandong province, 27 March 2013. China's public safety budget reaches at 128.989 billion yuan (Euros 16.227 billion) in 2013, up some nine per cent compared to last year, according to the Ministry of Finance. EPA/WU HONG

GONG supports the formation of an independent body designed to protect the right of access to information, as a member of the work group for FOIA Act amendments. The introduction of an Information Commissioner would guarantee high-quality implementation of the Act since this person would be able to file complaints against decisions to withhold information.

GONG points out to the lack of transparency of information about candidates running for public offices, and requests that administrative courts implement and argue the results of the public interest test carried out in administrative courts.

Bearing in mind the report of the Agency for the Protection of Personal Data (on Croatian): „ We can conclude by saying that the positive effect of legislative changes is visible, but we must also point out that the situation concerning the right of access to information is hardly enabling us to say that the Act has achieved its goal and that public bodies are open and transparent in their work, especially concerning the fact that the most of the public bodies declare their work reports and their employees’ salaries as business secret, and withhold information under the pretext of personal data protection, or concerning the high percentage of complaints filed due to the „administrative silence“, GONG supports the formation of an independent body designed to protect the right of access to information, as a member of the work group for FOIA Act amendments (on Croatian).

The introduction of an Information Commissioner would guarantee high-quality implementation of the Act since this person would be able to file complaints against decisions to withhold information.