prijava
SARAJEVO, September 29 (FENA) - The right to free access to information is a fundamental democratic right of every citizen to request information of public importance from public institutions, thereby providing insight into their work and decision-making, i.e., enabling transparent and efficient management of public funds with the eradication of corruption.
This was emphasized today during a street campaign held in Sarajevo at the Liberation Square - Alija Izetbegović, organized by Transparency International BiH (TIBiH) as part of the International Freedom of Access to Information Day - September 28.
The Institute of Freedom of Access to Information implies ensuring the right of every citizen to be able to submit to public institutions, at all levels, a request for any information held by those institutions, to which they are obliged to provide the requested information within 15 days.
Project assistant at TIBiH Lejla Hodžić, told FENA that the International Freedom of Access to Information Day in BiH is marked for the eighteenth time, and our country is among the 90 countries that have adopted the laws that regulate free access to information.
"The aim of celebrating this day internationally is to inform citizens and other entities about the right to be informed about the work of public authorities and their representatives, and thus to be encouraged and empowered to participate actively in decision-making as an important segment of strengthening democracy," emphasized Hodžić.
She recalled that TIBiH has been researching the application of the law on free access to information since 2011, and that in June this year a survey was launched on the availability of public information in public companies in BiH at all levels, in particular, information on their business operations.
The results of that survey, which are available on the web portal transparentno.ba, showed that 51.7 percent of the 159 public companies surveyed provided information within the legally prescribed deadline.
There are three laws on freedom of access to information in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, at state and entity levels of government. The Law on Freedom of Access to Information was adopted in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2000, as the first country in the region to do this, with the aim of establishing the basic principles of democratic rule, facilitating the fight against corruption and facilitating investigative journalism.
Worldwide, September 28 is marked as the International Freedom of Access to Information Day, guaranteed by all relevant international instruments that regulate the protection of fundamental human rights.
(FENA) S. R.
