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Bulgaria is an example of new EU Member State which passed a long way in adoption of legislation aimed at fostering access to public information. Right to access to public information is guaranteed by the 1991 Bulgarian Constitution. According to Article 41 of the Constitution, any citizen “shall be entitled to obtain information from state bodies and agencies on any matter of legitimate interest to them which is not a state or other secret prescribed by the law and does not affect the rights of others.” However, the creation of a full-fledged implementation mechanism took almost 10 years.

The Access to Public Information Act was enacted in Bulgaria in 2000. The law is applicable to entire governmental and local-self administration bodies, but also to citizens and legal entities in the part related to their activities funded from state budget. It is also applicable to mass media fostering thus the transparency of media activities. The law also defines fines that could be levied against public officials for unlawful rejection of citizens’ request for public information. Nevertheless, the law does not foresee an independent body responsible for review of appeals regarding refused requests of information, that cold be appealed to the regional courts of Supreme Administrative Court (Art. 40 of the Act).

Bulgarian Access to Public Information Act defines exemptions for the provision of information by governmental bodies. Such information includes state, administrative and commercial secrets. Article 7 of the Act defines that such information should be classified under a legal act adopted by the parliament. The law also defines as exceptions the information which is available “in the course of provision of administrative services to citizens and legal entities” or “kept with the State archives of the Republic of Bulgaria”. The Law for the Protection of Classified Information was adopted by the Bulgarian Parliament in 2002 and defines categories of secret information, terms of information secrecy for each category, procedures of classification of information under the categories of secrecy, relevant responsibilities of public authorities, as well as other procedural issues related to classification, protection and disclosure of secret information.

According to Article 2 of the Access to Public Information Act, the Act is not applicable to the access to personal data. Protection of personal data and relevant issues are regulated under the Personal Data Protection Act adopted in Bulgaria in 2002. As most of personal data protection laws, the Bulgarian Act defines lawful grounds for collection of individuals’ personal data, rules for storage and processing of such data. Supervision of personal data protection is delegated to an independent Commission for Personal Data. Protection which appointed by parliament for a term of four years on proposal of government. It is noteworthy that in Bulgaria the independent personal data protection body is appointed by the Parliament, which means that the country prioritizes the protection of individuals’ personal data.

The Bulgarian freedom of information legislation is still under the process of development and testing, and might undergo more changes to improve citizens’ access to public information.

Analysis provided by David Sandukhchyan, Director, Internews Armenia Center for Information Law and Policy, OSCE/ODIHR consultant.

Posted: February 2007

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