The Council of Europe’s Access Info Group (AIG), an independent group of experts created to monitor the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents by its parties, published today its first baseline evaluation reports on 11 states: Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Lithuania, Montenegro, Norway, the Republic of Moldova, Sweden and Ukraine.
The reports contain comprehensive analyses of the laws on freedom of information in these states and their compliance with the Tromsø Convention. In light of its findings, the AIG makes specific recommendations to each country on issues such as the exclusion of documents containing personal data or other content from the application of these laws, and limitations to the right to access official documents. Other recommendations concern excessive length of review proceedings in case of access denials and shortcomings in procedures for deciding on access requests, for example, excessive discretion provided to public authorities not to release the requested information or failure to provide assistance to applicants.
The convention, in force since 1 December 2020, is the first-ever binding international legal instrument to recognise everyone’s right to access official documents held by public authorities upon request. It lays down minimum obligations for its parties to guarantee the right to access official documents, balancing the protection of the public interest in transparency with the protection of other legitimate interests, such as national security, defence and international relations. The treaty also establishes obligations on the procedures for handling requests for information and the review of denial decisions by an independent body or a court in case of request denials.
