Throughout 2, 3, 9 and 10 November, the Council of Europe has trained over 180 civil servants from all public central authorities in the context of a series of tailored workshops on “The implementation of the new Law on Access to Information of Public Interest.”

The new Law on Access to Information of Public Interest was adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on 9 June 2023 and will enter into force in January 2024. It will introduce numerous changes to the ways in which the public will be able to access information managed by public institutions, in alignment with European standards, particularly in aspects such as proactive transparency requirements, deadline and communication regulations, judicial review models and financial sanctions.         

The civil servants were guided by international experts and national lawmakers who were directly involved in its drafting, taking in their direct expertise and insight in order to ensure a faithful interpretation and application of the new law’s principles when it will come into force. The participants and trainers shared their experience and exchanged the best practices in the domain of public access to information, underlining the new modus operandi that will emerge and the practices that will no longer be required.

Following its entering into force, the Council of Europe will remain a strong partner to the Government of the Republic of Moldova in strengthening the implementation of the new law on access to information, which is in line with the Council of Europe Tromso Convention.

The activity was organised by the Council of Europe Project “Support for Media Pluralism and Freedom of Expression in the Republic of Moldova” jointly with the EU-funded Project “Support for structured policy dialogue, coordination of the implementation of the Association Agreement and enhancement of the legal approximation process”.