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2009 Assessment

Mongolia: Integrity Indicators Scorecard

Mongolia: Integrity Scorecard Report > Sub-Category: Public Access to Information
Indicators		Score
12	Do citizens have a legal right of access to information?	33
13	Is the right of access to information effective?	17

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: A freedom of information law has not been adopted yet, despite many years of advocacy. The law is expected to be adopted within one to two years.

References: The Mongolian Constitution, Article 16.17

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: A formal process regarding a right of appeal regarding access to a basic government record does not exist in any legal framework.

Peer Review Comments: When denied information or assistance from a government official, the only way to resolve the issue is to appeal to a higher authority, usually a supervisor or organizational director. This is not possible for people with few social or professional contacts. It is also not always effective for those who have the right contacts to gain access to higher authorities.

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

Score:

YES

Comments:

References: A formal mechanism regarding an established institutional mechanism through which citizens can request government records does not exist.

Peer Review Comments: If individual ministries or departments within ministries have formal mechanisms to request documents, these are rare and are not actively advertised.

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: According to above reports there is a high tendency to wait longer period to obtain information, if they are not available online. It requires persistent effort to follow through complicated, bureaucratic systems to obtain necessary information, especially if it is politically sensitive. This is also partly due to the fact that officials can simply not locate information because they use less-developed archive system. National security exemptions are abused as described in the above-mentioned monitoring report.

References: Report, World Bank, 2007, "Enabling Environment for Social Accountability in Mongolia," [ LINK ]

Research Report, Globe International Non-Governmental Organization, 2007, Monitoring Access to Information and Secrecy

Report, Anti-corruption Agency, 2008, Monitoring of Openness and Transparency of Public Institutions, [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: IIn practice, it is dependent on the kind of information being requested. For example, records of marriage, residency, or property ownership are more easily accessible than politically-sensitive documents such as trial records from the Communist era. The timeliness of the response to requests is more dependent on the disposition of particular clerks or their supervisors, as opposed to a general government wide policy of restricting access to records.

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Report, World Bank, 2007, "Enabling Environment for Social Accountability in Mongolia," [ LINK ]

Research Report, Globe International Non-Governmental Organization, 2007, "Monitoring Access to Information and Secrecy"

Peer Review Comments: The most significance cost to retrieving records and other information is time. The lack of advertised formal procedures for requesting access makes interactions with government agencies a time consuming and often frustrating experience. However, it is not the case that it is always difficult all the time. Some agencies are better than others, and some clerks more helpful than others. An important area of research would be to survey individuals or organizations making requests for records and to measure the rate at which time consumption and frustration causes them to pull out of the process of record requests prematurely.

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:

References: Report, Naranjargal Hashhuu, "Freedom of Information, Mongolian Situation," [ LINK ]

Report, World Bank, 2007, "Enabling Environment for Social Accountability in Mongolia," [ LINK ]

Peer Review Comments: This depends on the nature of the records being requested.

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Report, Anti-Corruption Agency, 2008, "Monitoring of Openness and Transparency of Public Institutions," [ LINK ]

Research Report, Globe International Non-Governmental Organization, 2007, Monitoring Access to Information and Secrecy

Report, World Bank, 2007, "Enabling Environment for Social Accountability in Mongolia," www.worldbank.org

Peer Review Comments: If denied access to records, it is often difficult to know what one's rights are to appeal the decision. One must usually appeal to a higher authority, if one exists, in hopes of finding a more receptive ear.

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: There are no regulations regarding appeals to information requests.

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

Score:

100

Comments:

References: Report, Anti-Corruption Agency, 2008, " Monitoring of Openness and Transparency of Public Institutions ," [ LINK ]

Research Report, Globe International Non-Governmental Organization, 2007, Monitoring Access to Information and Secrecy

Peer Review Comments: Responses from clerks and supervisors who deny access can often be vague and unconvincing.