Twinning Light

Capacity Development for the Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information Montenegro 2018-2019

Based on the Contract on implementation of Twinning Light Project, on August 13, 2018 the Information Commissioner has started implementation of six-month project “Capacity Development for the Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information”. The projects is funded by the EU IPA Program, which is aimed at providing assistance of an EU member state (Republic of Croatia) to an accession country (Montenegro). The main objective of the project is to strengthen the efficiency in exercising the right to free access to information in Montenegro, in line with EU standards and good international practice. The objective is to be achieved primarily through strengthening of the capacity of public authorities and of the Agency as a supervisory independent appellate body for the implementation of the Law on Free Access to Information. In addition, the project will raise public awareness about the right of access to information and the possibilities for its realization.

Along with the Information Commissioner, on the member state side the project implementation team includes experts from the Government of the Republic of Croatia, the Ministry of Public Administration, the Office of the Government of the Republic of Croatia for NGO´s, the Central State Office for the Development of the Digital Society and the Administrative Court in Rijeka. Apart from the beneficiary institution, Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information, the participating institutions on the accession country side include Ministry of Administration, the Personnel Directorate and the Administrative Court and the public authorities in Montenegro.

Project activities include analysis of a legislative framework with recommendations for improvement, drafting of by-laws for the implementation of the PSI Directive, trainings and workshops for key stakeholders in the implementation of the Law and its moinitoring, developing tools for better implementation of the Law – the manual for standardization of handling of requests for access to information and the registerof public authorities.

  • Abuses to the right to free access to information limited;
  • Administrative and technical capacities of the staff of the Agency and of the first instance bodies on the application of the provisions of the Law on Free Access to Information and bylaws strengthened;
  • Increased alignment among the Agency, the first instance bodies and the Administrative Court on the interpretation and application of the Law on Free Access to Information and Law on Administrative Procedure;
  • Enhanced competencies of officials in the authorities to legally and efficiently deal with requests for access to information;
  • More accessible mechanisms to apply for access rights to right-of-way information;
  • Increased level of proactive disclosure of information on the website of the authorities;
  • Increased availability of key information about the Open Data Portal
  • A campaign was launched to raise public awareness of the effective use of the right to access information