Opinion on the Draft Law on Access to Information of the Republic of Kazakhstan and on Related Amendments to Other Legislative Acts

In April 2015, the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan requested OSCE to provide legal expertise on draft legislation on access to information. For a number of years, the Mazhilis (lower chamber) of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan has been in the process of drafting a new Law on Access to Information. OSCE/ODIHR has issued Opinions on previous drafts of this legislation in 2010 and in 2012. In its latest Opinion, ODIHR notes that the new draft Law constitutes an improvement to earlier draft versions, and incorporates a number of ODIHR’s previous recommendations. At the same time, there is a need to ensure that no information is categorically excluded from being accessed, and that at the same time, all necessary grounds for limitation of access to information are included.