Meeting on: “The Right of Information: The Need for law enforcement in the framework of transparent and efficient governance” - December 12, 2005

- Remarks of Bruce Kay, representative of USAID, to FOI 

(Freedom of Information Act) Law Event -

Remarks of Bruce Kay, USAID

To FOI Law Event

Monday, December 12, 2005

Thank you Mr. Dobjani:

Honorable ladies and gentlemen; distinguished participants, thanks so much for inviting me here today to make the opening remarks for what USAID considers to be a significant step towards a more complete implementation of Albania’s Freedom of Information Law.

Let me start by saying a few words about access to information in developing democracies

Governments around the world have responded to public and international pressure to become more open over the last decade. They’ve recognized that safeguarding the citizens’ right to know is a cornerstone of transparent governance and a primary means of ensuring government accountability.  Public access to information is in fact an essential component of a democratic society. It contributes to an aggressive Fourth Estate, it helps to build citizen confidence in public institutions and strengthen their credibility and effectiveness.

There are many political and practical reasons underpinning access to information legislation. Let me cite only three of the most obvious.  The first is that the freedom of information creates a more open society. Democratic participation in decision-making depends on transparency and information sharing. The free flow of information is essential if problems are to be identified and resolved. A second important reason is economic growth, which requires access to accurate information on problems hindering development to be in the public domain. Finally and most importantly for Albania, access to information is a weapon against corruption, which has a pernicious effect in developing countries of discouraging investment and of diluting the efficiency of public spending. 

In many developing democracies like Albania formal recognition of the right to information has not always or necessarily translated into a real life advantage for the citizens due to severe lack of implementation.

Since 1999 Albania has had a freedom of information law. The culmination of efforts by civil society and government, this law was aimed at addressing a need for better public administration, reducing corruption and improving public service delivery, as well as empowering citizens to participate in the decision making process. 

In practice, however, Albanian authorities have not yet met all the standards set by the law; they have not fully adhered to the principles of openness and accountability implicit in the law. Opinion surveys suggest that in most the cases people are unaware that they can get official documents by filing a request for information with the administration. As a result, the Law is underutilized and its benefits to citizens have so far been limited.

Several FOI Law promotion activities have been performed by civil society organizations and the Ombudsman over the past 4 years. Even a governmental Anticorruption Action Scheme enumerates the implementation of FOI Law as one of the main pillars of governmental transparency and efficiency. The most conspicuous of such attempts has been the national conference organized by the Ombudsman in 2002 which produced the only available empirical data on the subject to date, a legal commentary by IPLS and a string of surveys by actors like Center for the Democratization of Institutions, the Citizen Advocacy Office. 

In their recent survey, the Citizens Advocacy Office found an extremely low level of official compliance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Law.  For example, only five of the 22 institutions to which CAO sent a request for information responded to that request within the legally mandated time period.  After an administrative complaint was lodged with the remaining 17 institutions, only 8 ultimately responded to the requests, and even then, the responses were only partial. 

Needless to say, this is not the level of compliance that one should expect from Government that abides by its own rules.

Implementing the FOI Law will take more than doing compliance surveys and making political declarations. Legislation indeed is only the beginning of compliance. It does obligate the government to open its records to public scrutiny.  But it also enables the authorities to issue norms and procedures as well as develop work practices and physical facilities that will lay the groundwork for the law’s implementation.

That is why we are here today.

The policies and procedures that allow this law to be implemented are essential for enhancing government transparency and accountability.  They are also the next natural step for the accomplishment of the FOIA goals. 

The USAID Rule of Law Project has worked closely with the Office of the Ombudsman to develop a Model Regulation for the Implementation of the FOIA. This model regulation is intended to assist the government institutions in the implementation of FOIA by providing uniform procedural solutions for the satisfaction of FOIA requests regardless of the nature of the request, the requestor or the government agency receiving the request.

Albania’s political leadership and the public share an interest in a functioning Freedom of Information system. An informed citizenry can alert its political leaders to bureaucratic distortions and delays which erode the efficiency of government and the credibility of elected officials.

There is room for a strategic alliance here.

Political will combined with public pressure can bring about real change in the way that the Freedom of Information Law is implemented in Albania with all its beneficial effects for the economy and a democratic society.

The promulgation of these regulations is the beginning of that strategic alliance.  And I would like to commend the Ombudsman’s office for the initiative it has shown and the work it has invested in moving the process forward.

Thank you very much.