Activity Details (ID# 9167)

Activity Synopsis

The general objective of the seminar was to support the ongoing process in Montenegro and in neighbouring Serbia and Macedonia of adopting access to information legislation, in line with European standards in this field. In addition to this, seminar aimed to be a forum for exchange of information and experience between the participants from different countries in the region, but countries that are at the similar stage in meeting the challenges of implementing freedom of information laws.
The specific objectives of the seminar were to build on the commitment demonstrated by the Montenegrin government to adopt FOI legislation, to ensure that high priority is given to effective implementation and necessary revision of conflicting laws and regulations, as well as to increase awareness of the Montenegrin public of their right to information and at the same time to increase awareness of public officials in Montenegro of what they will need to do as to ensure effective implementation of the FOIA once adopted.
 

The Seminar was very well organised. The participants had quite a lot of diverse materials prepared for them in the seminar folders, including the latest Montenegrin draft Free Access to Information Law, publications of Article XIX and Montenegrin Helsinki Committee (Right to Know – the principles of the legislation on freedom of expression; The Overview on the freedom of information in SEE; Model of Free access to information Law), then Open Society publication “Local Governance in Brief”, as well as the Annual review of Article XIX. Most of the speakers have arranged their presentations also to be available for the participants.

The discussions were inspiring, offering an exchange of experiences and different approaches. Taking into account that this is a relatively new law for all of these regional legislative frameworks, quite a lot of the discussion was devoted to the various obstacles that it can face during the implementation phase and ways of overcoming these problems. Clarity in drafting the law was stressed as the essential precondition for its successful implementation. Also, the need for training, awareness raising and litigation would be important actions that can be taken in that regard.

The seminar was widely covered by media, starting by the press conference that announced it a day in advance, through the work of the seminar and the closing press conference. The programme was realized as planned with minor changes, mainly in regard to the time frame.

Taking into account that participants were quite active in the discussions, target groups were reached to a great extent. Moreover, their positive reactions have confirmed the general readiness to proceed with adoption of this law where it is still not passed, and to proceed with its further implementation where it is in force.

 

The seminar resulted in the Declaration that has given the very specific list of urgent actions that should be undertaken in different countries of the region. 

NGO representatives, central and local government representatives, and parliamentarians from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosova, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey, international NGOs (Article 19, the Justice Initiative, Privacy International) and representatives of the OSCE, the World Bank Institute, and the Council of Europe 

Ms Tonje Meinich, Ministry of Justice, Norway 

Ms Lejla Dervisagic, Media Division, Directorate General of Human Rights
Ms Daliborka Uljarevic, CoE Office in Montenegro