European Federation of Journalists

Cyprus must improve access to information law, says EFJ


The European Federation of Journalists (EFJ) has joined Access Info Europe (AIE) in calling the Cypriot Government to improve its draft access to information law in order to meet international transparency standard. According to the global Right to Info Rating, the Republic of Cyprus freedom of information bill is set to become one of the worst in Europe.

Access Info Europe (AIE) and the Centre for Law and Democracy (CLD) studied the draft text using the 61 indicators of the Right to Information Rating and found that Cyprus scores a dismal 57 points (out of 150) which positions itself near the buttom of the rank at 97 (out of 102 countries globally).

The EFJ urges the government of Cyprus to improve the current draft so that journalists can carry out their duties as watchdogs and public can exercise their rights to information.

The RTI Rating website provides updated results on 102 countries with national right to information laws. However, the rating is only limited to measuring the legal framework, and does not measure quality of implementation.

In Europe, Serbia and Slovenia retain top positions in the updated rating, while Austria, Germany, Italy and Belgium languish in bottom places.

Useful link: The Legal Leaks Guide for journalists on how to access government information (available in English, Turkish, Italian, Ukrainian, Hungarian,Croatian, Bosnian, Macedonian, Albanian, Montenegrin and Moldovan).

(Picture credit: rti-rating.org)