Towards essential improvements in FOIA and Sunshine laws in Romania
During the period February to June 2014 APADOR-CH will resume an old project which seeks to improve free access to public information (Law 544/2001) and the public consultation process (Law 52/2003). The title of the project is „Towards Essential Improvements in FOIA and Sunshine Laws in Romania” and is funded by the Balkan Trust for Democracy.
APADOR-CH is one of the main promoters of these two laws and their proper monitoring. Through extensive monitoring we have found that these two laws and principles they promote are often undermined by a series of practices.
In our continuous efforts to uphold these laws, we want to document and challenge two of these practices.
– First we want to look at how freedom of information is undermined by photocopying prices charged by public institutions. We want to see what the price is, in various public institutions in the country, to obtain a copy of a record public.
– We also want to challenge the misuse of emergency ordinances. We noted that ordinances are used excessively, the legislative process and the principle of public consultation being circumvented. We want to document this practice and to exert pressure on the Ombudsnam to appeal it to the Constitutional Court.
Results: