OSCE media freedom representative marks 240th anniversary of first access to information law

VIENNA, 1 December 2006 - Marking the 240th anniversary of the world's first freedom of information act, the OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Miklos Haraszti, encouraged those OSCE participating States which have not yet developed and enforced access to information legislation to speed up this process.

Forty five out of 56 OSCE participating States have adopted national laws giving specific rights to citizens and journalists to obtain information from government bodies.

The first access to information act took effect in the then Kingdom of Sweden and Finland on 2 December 1766. Since then, many democracies worldwide have adopted freedom of information laws and set up transparent principles of classification.

"Public access to information has become the foundation of modern media rights. Free flow of information, a core principle of the 1975 Helsinki Final Act, is unrealisable today without the media having guaranteed access to data on activities of state offices," said Haraszti.

The Representative said his Office was in the process of reviewing laws and practices on access to information by the media in the OSCE region. He also plans to issue a report and recommendations next year on how participating States could implement best practices in public access to information.

"Governments should carefully balance legitimate concerns for protecting vital information in the field of national security or crime prevention with the right of societies to know. As media are the embodiment of the public's right to know, their access to information is a vital component of this human right" added Haraszti.