Legal Opinions » 2014

The Access to Information Programme Published its Statement on the Bill of Amendments to the Access to Public Information Act published on the government portal for public consultations: http://www.strategy.bg/PublicConsultations/View.aspx?lang=bg-BG&Id=1474.
 
The specific recommendations were for more precise formulation of the texts related to the fees for granting access to public sector information for re-use and to the restrictions on the access to public sector information for re-use. 
 
The text of the statement in Bulgarian.

On August 26, 2014, the Access to Information Programme sent its Legal Statement regarding the necessity for amendments to the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) to a working group at the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies, and Communications. The working group was established with the mandate to draft a Bill of Amendments to the APIA to introduce the Directive 2013/37/EU on the Re-use of Public Sector Information. AIP experts were the only NGO representatives determined by a ministerial order to take part in the working group. A considerable part of the recommendations given by AIP experts in the course of the working group discussions were included in a Bill on Amendments to the APIA.
The text of the statement in Bulgarian.

On January 15, 2014, AIP submitted its opinion statement on Draft Amendments to the Penal Code to the deputy chairperson of the National Assembly and the chairperson of the Parliamentary Commission for Interaction with Civil Organizations and Groups, and to the Minister of Justice:

• AIP stands on the position that libel and defamation should not be criminal offenses, especially with regard to guaranteeing the role of the press as a public watchdog;
• AIP also insisted that the criminal liability for seeking and receiving of information by technical means, the release of official secret and protected information should be removed with the purpose of fair balance between their effective protection and the opportunity that the press, the nongovernmental organizations and the civil society structures may serve their function as a public watchdog and reveal wrongdoings in government;
• AIP recommended that the criminal liability for disclosing state secret should be precised.

The statement in Bulgarian.

On January 14, 2014, AIP submitted an official opinion statement for necessary amendments to the Draft Law for Amendments to the Law on Prevention and Establishment of Conflict of Interests aiming at greater publicity of the conflict of interest declarations of public figures by upload in the Internet . The statement was filed to the Commission for Interaction with Civil Organizations and Groups.
 
The statement in Bulgarian.