Access to official documents – often referred to as freedom of information – is a crucial component of good democratic governance. It allows citizens and the media more effectively to scrutinise the activities of public authorities, thereby forming a safeguard against corruption in public life. Freedom of information is an important component of freedom of expression under Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and contributes to the activities of the media and civil society.

The Council of Europe Convention on access to official documents, known as the Tromsø Convention, is the first binding international legal instrument to recognise the right to access official documents held by public authorities without discrimination and regardless of an individual’s status or motives in seeking access. In this respect, it goes further than the freedom of information recognised by the European Court of Human Rights under Article 10 of the ECHR, and is not limited to journalists. Adopted by the Committee of Ministers in 2009, it entered into force in 2020.

 

Access Info Group

The Access Info Group (AIG) is the group of independent experts established under the Tromsø Convention to evaluate the Parties’ implementation of the convention. The AIG currently has 10 members, elected by the Consultation of the Parties to the convention in March 2022 for a four-year, once-renewable term of office. At its first meeting in November 2022, the AIG elected Helena Jäderblom as its chairperson.

 

  • Civil society involvement
    • The AIG’s Rules of Procedure state that only its members, Secretariat, and other persons invited or approved to do so by the Group participate in its meetings.
    • The AIG may consult relevant civil society actors in the course of its work, including by inviting them to submit written comments on the reports submitted by the Parties or the AIG’s own draft evaluation reports. It may also hold hearings with relevant civil society actors.
    • All of the AIG’s information is made public, subject to certain specific limited exceptions.