This manual for administrative officials contains basic international standards and principles of access to information legislation, as well as the procedures for providing access stipulated by the Bulgarian law. Practical recommendations and examples of accumulated good practices are addressed to the responsible information officials.
Attachment 1: List of obliged bodies under the APIA ;
Attachment 2a: Partial Access;
Attachment 2b: Partial Access ;
Attachment 3: State Secret;
Attachment 4: Administrative secret;
Attachment 5: Trade secret;
Attachment 7: Model of a request for access to information;
Attachment 8: Model decision for information disclosure;
Attachment 9: Model decision for partial information disclosure;
Attachment 10: Model protocol for information disclosure;
Attachment 11: Model refusal to provide access to information;
Attachment 12: Order 10 of the Ministry of Finance from 10.01.2001 for determining the fees for disclosure of public information .

The structure of this handbook grew out of a review of specific cases referred to the Access to Information Programme between 1997 and 2003 and the lawsuits conducted since 2000. The text of the handbook reflects on questions raised during discussions of the Environmental Protection Act and the Aarhus convention with representatives from the Regional Inspectorates of Environment and Water, Basin Directorates, NGOs and other institutions working for the preservation of the environment. The handbook presents part of the litigation initiated under the Environmental Protection Act, as well as selected passages from laws regulating access to information about the environment, model information requests and appeals, and useful links and addresses.

This handbook describes the obligations of local authorities to provide information, the procedures they have to follow, and possible cases in which access can be denied. The handbook includes a model of a decision for providing partial access to information.

This handbook published in 2000 explains the procedures established by the newly adopted Bulgarian law for exercising the right to information. Answers to the following questions are provided:

• what is public information,
• who is obliged to provide access to information,
• how to request and receive information,
• what answers can seekers expect, and
• how can seekers appeal the decision of the administration.

This 64-page brochure presents the history of our organization: the origins; the establishment of our network of coordinators in 1997; legislative advocay; legal help; monitoring of the implementation of the Access to Public Information Act; litigation; the media campaigns; training sessions; networking; our publications and projects.
10 Years Access to Information Programme, Access to Information Programme, Sofia: 2007, 64 pages, ISBN 978-954-9953-42-8