Dnevni list: Even though BiH has received the Law on Free Information Access nine years ago, it is obvious that the government still chooses which information to give, while in our previous practice there were no cases of enunciating any sanctions for not delivering the information.
However, the situation might change soon, since the Proposal Law on Changes and Amendments to the Law on Free Information Access, which is currently in the parliamentary procedure, stipulates sanction regulations for the competent personnel, who disable the information access. The proposal of new law, which has been adopted in its first reading, stipulates the sanctions from 1000 to 15.000 KM for not providing the requested information in a legal deadline of 15 days, while the financial sanction for competent persons in public authority is from 200 to 5000 KM. The most complaints of citizens by now relates to the impossibility to have an insight into the documents and a lack of the information important in achieving the working and other kinds of rights.
Srđan Blagovčanin, spokesperson of the Transparency International BiH, believes that the financial sanctions will enable a better application of law, because the researches, which have been done by now, have shown that its application is very bad.
Namely, the last research implemented by the TI BiH, shows that the level of application of the Law on Free Information Access is 60%, and that the citizens have problems while accessing the information in case of sensitive issues, as are the privatization process and functioning of public companies. However, according to Blagovčanin, the regulations related to the form in which the citizens get notified on wanted information, should be inserted into the law.