Administrative-procedural and other similar forms of protection of the right of access to information in comparative law

Abstract

Pursuit for new and more effective forms of control of public admini­stration and public authorities in general, has led to the emergence of a new citizens' right in the mid 60's of the 20th century, which some authors might rightly call fundamental - the right of free access to information (FAI). In the past fifty years this right quickly spread to all continents and today more than 100 countries are closely regulating the manner of its implementation and protection through specific laws. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the administrative-procedural and other similar forms of protection of the right of access to information in 19 countries. The study reveals that in the comparative legislation, many different models of its protection can be recognized. A number of countries persist on the traditional model of administrative-procedural protection of this right. However, in affirmation of this right, citizens are becoming the 'fourth power' which directly controls the work of state bodies and with time this led to the establishment of new models different from this traditional one. Notably it is a model which involves independent and autonomous control authority with the imperative competences in the administrative-legal protection and court in the administrative-judicial protection. Another model which is less accepted in the world and which in the practice did not prove itself is the one where the control is performed by independent bodies not with imperative but with the 'ombudsman' competences. Some countries have also 'atypical' approach to the protection of this right which does not include administrative instance of the control but only the court protection. Model of the protection through the independent control body with the imperative competences has shown the best results and today it is increasingly expanding. It has been accepted not only by countries in transition, but also by some developed western democracies.

Potraga za novim i efikasnijim oblicima kontrole javne uprave, odnosno organa javne vlasti uopšte, dovela je, sredinom 60-tih godina 20. veka do nastanka jednog novog prava građana, koji pojedini autori možda i sa pravom nazivaju fundamentalnim - prava na slobodan pristup informacijama (SPI). Ovo pravo se za poslednjih pedeset godina brzo proširilo na sve kontinente, te danas više od 100 zemalja sveta posebnim zakonima bliže uređuju način njegovog ostvarivanja i zaštitu. U ovom radu izvršena je komparativna analiza upravno-procesne i drugih sličnih oblika zaštite prava na pristup informacijama u 19 zemalja. Istraživanje otkriva da se uporednim zakonodavstvima mogu prepoznati više različitih modela njegove zaštite. Jedan broj zemalja istrajava na tradicionalnom modelu upravno-procesne zaštite i kada je reč o ovom pravu. Međutim, kako afirmacijom ovog prava građani postaju 'četvrta vlast' koja neposredno kontroliše rad državnih organa, vremenom su nastali i novi modeli koji se razlikuje od pomenutog tradicionalnog. To je ponajpre model u kome učestvuje nezavistan i samostalan kontrolni organ sa imperativnim ovlašćenjima u procesu upravno-pravne, i sud, u postupku upravno-sudske zaštite. Još jedan model koji je u svetu manje prihvaćen i koji se u praksi nije pokazao i dokazao je onaj u kome kontrolu vrše nezavisni organi ali sa 'ombudsmanskim' a ne imperativnim ovlašćenjima. Pojedine zemlje imaju i 'atipičan' pristup u zaštiti ovog prava, u kome nema upravne instancione kontrole, već postoji samo sudska zaštita. Model zaštite preko nezavisnog kontrolnog organa sa imperativnim ovlašćenjima pokazao je najbolje rezultate i danas se sve više širi. Njega su preuzele ne samo zemlje u tranziciji već i pojedine razvijene zapadne demokratije.