How to Ensure More Accountable and More Transparent Work of Publicly Owned Corporations?
The Ministry of State Administration and Local Self-Government (hereinafter referred to as: Ministry) on February 5, 2018 opened the public consultation procedure aimed at amending the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance (hereinafter referred to as: Law) and proposed a Draft Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance. One of the more significant changes brought by the Draft refers to the exclusion of certain type of public companies from the implementation of the Law.
The purpose of this analysis was to identify ways for getting information about the work of those companies and corporations through official channels, but by addressing other institutions which might have certain information about the operation of corporations.
With this analysis we aim to help the interested public, primarily journalists, activists, citizens, potential whistleblowers and all other stakeholders to be ready (as much as possible) for the beginning of implementation of the amended Law (if the modifications proposed in the Draft are upheld) and to try, as successfully as possible, to continue with the already challenging and frequently obstructed monitoring of the work of entities that are to be excluded from the scope of the new law.
Even if the proposed legal solution were not adopted, which would certainly be good primarily for the interested public, this research can certainly help the public to prepare better for the improved use of primary and alternative ways for collecting information about the work of publicly owned corporations, with the aim of achieving and protecting the interest of the public to know how public funds are being used! This is particularly important for the research of the operation of the corporations that have so far frequently violated they statutory obligation to work in a transparent manner. This is particularly important for the research of the operation of the corporations that have so far frequently violated they statutory obligation to work in a transparent manner.
Summary of the Analysis (.pdf)
