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2009 Assessment

Macedonia (FYROM): Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Macedonia (FYROM): Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Public Access to Information
Indicators		Score
12	Do citizens have a legal right of access to information?	100
13	Is the right of access to information effective?	50

Indicator and sub-Indicator Details

Do citizens have a legal right of access to information?

12a: In law, citizens have a right of access to government information and basic government records.

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: Law for Free Access to Public Information, 2006.

12b: In law, citizens have a right of appeal if access to a basic government record is denied.

Score:

YES

Comments: The Law for Free Access to Public Information allows the citizen who has been denied disclosure to appeal to the Commission for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information.

References: Law for Free Access to Public Information, 2006, Articles 20 and 22.

12c: In law, there is an established institutional mechanism through which citizens can request government records.

Score:

YES

Comments: Every information issuer designates one or more employees to be responsible for the access to public information. However, the main state institution dealing with this issue is the Commission for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information.

References: Law for Free Access to Public Information, 2006, Article 8, Part VI.

Is the right of access to information effective?

13a: In practice, citizens receive responses to access to information requests within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments: Usually one has to wait a long time to get a response to even the simplest request. Some institutions store their lists of contacts separately from the main web pages, so finding the official person you need becomes even more difficult.

References: Interview with Agim Selami, management coordinator/research fellow in Analytica, Sep. 04, 2009, Skopje.

Neda Korunovska and Danche Danilovska, eds Dzid od tishina, Edna godina podocna: Izveshtaj za implementacija na Zakonot za Sloboden Pristap do Informacii od Javen Karakter, FOSIM: Skopje, 2007.

Peer Review Comments: The citizens get the information in a reasonable time, but they mostly complain that they don't get the exact answer for what they requested.

13b: In practice, citizens can use the access to information mechanism at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments: Currently, communication usually travels via e-mail and most of the information (laws, documents, etc.) are put on web pages, which makes the access reasonably cheap.

References: Interview with Agim Selami, management coordinator/research fellow in Analytica, Sep. 04, 2009, Skopje.

Neda Korunovska and Danche Danilovska, eds Dzid od tishina, Edna godina podocna: Izveshtaj za implementacija na Zakonot za Sloboden Pristap do Informacii od Javen Karakter, FOSIM: Skopje, 2007.

13c: In practice, responses to information requests are of high quality.

Score:

100

$Scoring Criteria :: 100 Score Criteria: Responses to information requests typically address the requestor\'s questions in full and are not redacted or edited to remove sensitive information. <p>50 Score Criteria: Information requests are sometimes met with sufficient responses, but responses to information requests may be vague or overly general when sensitive information is sought. <p>0 Score Criteria: The government rarely or never replies to information requests with meaningful responses. If and when responses are issued, they are so overly general or heavily redacted as to render them useless.$

Comments: It depends on the persons giving the answer, but most of the time they either are incompetent for a particular matter or do not want to or do not have the time to answer in detail or properly.

References: Interview with Agim Selami, management coordinator/research fellow in Analytica, Sep. 04, 2009, Skopje.

Neda Korunovska and Danche Danilovska, eds Dzid od tishina, Edna godina podocna: Izveshtaj za implementacija na Zakonot za Sloboden Pristap do Informacii od Javen Karakter, FOSIM: Skopje, 2007.

13d: In practice, citizens can resolve appeals to access to information requests within a reasonable time period.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Interview with Agim Selami, management coordinator/research fellow in Analytica, Sep. 04, 2009, Skopje.

Neda Korunovska and Danche Danilovska, eds Dzid od tishina, Edna godina podocna: Izveshtaj za implementacija na Zakonot za Sloboden Pristap do Informacii od Javen Karakter, FOSIM: Skopje, 2007.

Peer Review Comments: The requests are resolved in a reasonable time, but it takes months for the whole procedure to finish because the deadline is 40 days to get the answer and 40 more days for an the appeal.

13e: In practice, citizens can resolve appeals to information requests at a reasonable cost.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Interview with Agim Selami, management coordinator/research fellow in Analytica, Sep. 04, 2009, Skopje.

Neda Korunovska and Danche Danilovska, eds Dzid od tishina, Edna godina podocna: Izveshtaj za implementacija na Zakonot za Sloboden Pristap do Informacii od Javen Karakter, FOSIM: Skopje, 2007.

Peer Review Comments: It requires a written letter and sending it by post, which costs around 1.50 euro (about US$2).

13f: In practice, the government gives reasons for denying an information request.

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Interview with Agim Selami, management coordinator/research fellow in Analytica, Sep. 04, 2009, Skopje.

Neda Korunovska and Danche Danilovska, eds Dzid od tishina, Edna godina podocna: Izveshtaj za implementacija na Zakonot za Sloboden Pristap do Informacii od Javen Karakter, FOSIM: Skopje, 2007.

Peer Review Comments: Most of the time, the government gives a reason for denial, or gives it after a commission resolves the appeal.