The Albanian Ministry of Justice has published a draft amendment to the law on the right to information which has sparked fears it could result in issues for the media when seeking to obtain information crucial to its work.
According to the proposal published for public consultation, a new article on so-called ‘abusive requests’ has been introduced, which would give public institutions the right to designate requests for information as abusive, and therefore refuse to answer them.
“When requests for information are clearly abusive, especially due to their repetitive character, the public authority may decide to terminate the administrative procedure without a final decision. The burden of proof to prove the abusive nature of the request belongs to the public authority,” the draft law states while providing that the matter can be referred to the Commissioner for the Right to Information.
The lack of definition around what exactly abusive requests would consist of has concerned some media stakeholders.
Albania’s current law on the right to information was drafted with international assistance and passed by parliament in 2014. The government has argued that the law needs to be amended to prevent legal vacuums that could result from drafting new legislation in the field of data protection.
But the media community is not convinced. Flutura Kusari from the European Centre for Media Freedom told BIRN that the changes could see access to information deteriorate further.
“There is no reliable evidence that anyone in Albania has abused the right of access to information. The evidence shows the opposite: the authorities arbitrarily hide public information from the media and journalists,” she said.
“This is another attempt to hermetically close public institutions to make it impossible for journalists to hold the government accountable,” added Kusari.
Irena Dule, a lawyer from Res Publica, added the problem is not how the authorities handle abusive requests but rather how they take well-founded ones.
The amendments to the law also foresee a reduction of fines for institutions that fail to provide requested information. Penalties would drop from 150,000 lek to 50,000 lek.
Currently, journalists regularly complain that their access to information is hampered by institutions that ignore them or refuse to hand over data. This is compounded by a Data Commissioner that is slow to act and hands out very few fines.
Furthermore, in the latest EU country report, the Commission noted that Albania made “no progress” on media freedom and said that it “remains important to ensure that the media [in Albania] have direct and transparent access to governmental institutions and their activities”.
Kusari told BIRN that the latest move by the authorities fits a known pattern. “This is yet another attempt to hermetically close public institutions to make it impossible for journalists to hold power to account. We ask the Ministry of Justice to drop the proposed amendments,” she said.
Meanwhile, the government confirmed the withdrawal of the the anti-defamation package from parliament, with just a formal process to be completed.
The package would see all online media brought under the jurisdiction of a body which could hand down fines and enforce penalties on any media it says has violated a set of rather vague rules. Penalties would be given without any judicial oversight.
A government spokesperson clarified for EURACTIV that, “the law has not been on the agenda for over a year, but now it will be withdrawn formally.”
The package was vehemently opposed by the European Commission, Council of Europe, the Venice Commission and a long list of local and international media and rights organisations, who called it draconian and said it would significantly impact the country’s media landscape.
It was voted on by the Socialist majority in 2020 but then vetoed by then-president Ilir Meta who returned it to lawmakers. It sat on the agenda of parliament for over two years, where it could be passed at any moment with the ruling majority, in a “sword of Damocles” situation for Albanian media.
But for the last year, it was not on the agenda and the government said it had been informally withdrawn. Socialist Party Whip Taulant Balla told BIRN that the law will now be formally withdrawn as it was a procedural oversight that it had not happened so far.
“The law will be withdrawn, it was a procedural oversight that was not withdrawn in time,” he said.
On Monday, the office of the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media tweeted with regards to the withdrawal of the package.
“I am pleased that the #Albania government withdrew the controversial draft media laws, known as the “anti-defamation” package, from parliamentary agenda. All media related legislation must guarantee #mediafreedom, in line with #OSCE commitments & other international standards.”
But with the latest amendments to the freedom of information law, it could be new battle lines have been drawn.
