Open Society Justice Initiative .

Open Society Justice Initiative

www.justiceinitiative.org

Open Society Justice Initiative

Offices in: New York, Budapest, Abuja

Programs:

• National Criminal Justice

• International Justice

• Anti-corruption

• Equality and Citizenship

• Freedom of Information and Expression

• Legal Capacity Development

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

Freedom of Expression Program:• Defamation• Financial and Indirect Pressures• Freedom of Broadcasting

Freedom of Information Program:• FOI Adoption• FOI Implementation• Global level projects (National Security, IFI Transparency)• FOI Network and Resource Materials (FOI Network,

Monitoring)

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION LAWS• Enables citizen participation in decision-making by governments

and international bodies

• Assists in developing citizen trust in government actions • Promotes accountability to the public• Underpins efforts to combat corruption

• 50+ countries pass Freedom of Information Laws, more than half in the last decade (in 2003: Armenia, Turkey, Slovenia, Croatia etc)

• 30+ pending efforts (Serbia, Macedonia, etc)

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

FOI Laws adopted:• Bulgaria - 2000• Macedonia - draft• Montenegro - no law• Romania - 2001• Serbia - draft• Czech Republic - 2000• Croatia - 2003

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

FOI LAWS:

• Who has the right to information?• What information is public? • Who has the obligation to provide the information?• Time frames• Fees• Exemptions (harm test, public interest test)

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

FOI and Accountability - Justice Initiative Projects

1) FOI & Health Data - Slovakia

2) FOI & Women’s Rights - Albania

3) FOI Education & Legal Assistance - Peru

4) FOI Monitoring - Global

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

1) FOI & Health Data - Slovakia

• Analyzing Freedom of Information Law and related legislation of Slovakia.

• Mapping of access to health information in Slovakia• Filing requests• Litigating where necessary to challenge refusals to provide

information

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

2) FOI & Women’s Rights - Albania

• Assisting Albanian women’s rights CSOs in filing requests • Providing legal advice if information is denied• Undertaking litigation in selected cases• Training of lawyers

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

3) FOI Education & Legal Assistance - Peru

• Research on the interest of the civil society regarding the information they want to get from the public authorities.

• Approaching the local municipality and offer assistance in establishing an information system and training on use of the FOI Law.

• Training in parallel the local population, journalists, and NGOs on the use of the law (interactive materials, awareness-raising)

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

4) FOI Monitoring - Global • A tool for monitoring access to information levels• Relational database for collecting and evaluating results

– Requestees: wide range of governmental institutions (central/regional/local)

– Requestors: wide range of persons (NGO, journalist, excluded group, natural person)

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

2003 Pilot Monitoring

different political/legal environment:

Armenia (2004), Macedonia (draft law), Peru (2002), Bulgaria (2000), South Africa (2000)

2004 Monitoring

Africa (South Africa, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal)

Europe (Armenia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Romania, France, Spain)

Latin America (Peru, Chile, Argentina, Mexico)

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

Phases of the Monitoring:Request Monitoring Promotion Requests - about activities taken to

promote FOI in governmental institutionsFollow-On Interview - on the problems encountered in

the Request process

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

The tool will meet the following needs:• to publicize and analyze the state of FOI in each

country;• to identify reasons for failure to open access for use

in advocacy & training efforts;• to provide a standardized methodology for future use• to comparisons between countries

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

Final Results from the 2003 FOI Pilot Study

Armenia Bulgaria Macedonia Peru South Africa

Written Refusal

8%

Incomplete4%

Fulfilled32%

Mute Refusal35%

Unable to Submit15%

Oral Refusal6%

44 4034

24 28

108

3

32

34 48

37

3824

122

712

5

0 2

7 8

6

0 0

13 14

35

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Pro-GovJournalist

OppositionalJournalist

NGO Non-AffilatedPerson

ExcludedGroup

Fulfilled Incomplete Mute Refusal Written Refusal Oral Refusal Unable to Submit

3320

4029 32 27

0

1

6

7 4

1

37

38

2741

46

41

316

63

4

00

13 49

4

14

27

12 1711 9

17

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Presidential /PM

Judicial Ministerial RegionalExecutive

LocalExecutive

CountrySpecific /Telecom

Fulfilled Incomplete Mute Refusal Oral Refusal Written Refusal Unable to Submit

0

10

3

8

1

16

1

4

3

3

2

7

11

7

10 3

0 6 12 18

Armenia

Bulgaria

Macedonia

Peru

South Africa

FOI Officer No FOI Officer No Response Not monitored 1

8

3

8

4

12

8

2

3

0

0 6 12 18

Armenia

Bulgaria

Macedonia

Peru

South Africa

FOI Office Special Room

FOI Practices among (18) institutions

Justice Initiative - Freedom of Information Program

Helen Darbishire - Senior Program Manager Darian Pavli - Legal Officer

Eszter Filippinyi - Program Coordinator

Katalin Talur - Legal Intern

Tel: + 361 327-3100 Fax: + 361 327-3101Email: [email protected] Web: www.justiceinitiative.org