TRAINING FOR ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION: “EUROPEAN STANDARDS AND NATIONAL APPLICATION”
The Agency for the Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information, in cooperation with the Program Office of the Council of Europe, held a training session on the topic “Access to Public Information: European Standards and National Application.” In this way, the Agency marks September 28 – the International Day for Universal Access to Information.
The event took place within the framework of the project “Protection of Freedom of Expression and Freedom of the Media in North Macedonia (PRO-FREX)”, which is part of the joint European Union and Council of Europe program, the “Horizontal Facility for the Western Balkans and Turkey 2023-2026”.
Plamenka Bojcheva, Director of the Agency for the Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information, and Oleg Soldatov, Head of the Program Office of the Council of Europe in Skopje, delivered their welcoming speeches.
The training was designed for officials from ministries and the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia, aiming to enhance their understanding of the international legal framework and domestic legislation governing the right to access information. Through a dynamic and interactive program, participants had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of European standards for access to information, including the Tromsø Convention, the Aarhus Convention, and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as well as the relevant jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights.
Special focus was placed on topics such as: the application of the domestic legal framework in the context of international standards, restrictions on the right to access information and the public interest test, dealing with abuses of the right to information, and the role of supervisory institutions. The training was led by experts German Filkov and Tetiana Oleksiyuk, consultants of the Council of Europe.
The training contributed to the promotion of transparency, accountability, and good governance in North Macedonia, encouraging the more effective application of the right to access information and strengthening cooperation between institutions, the media, and civil society.
At the same time, the Agency joins the initiative of the International Conference of Information Commissioners (ICIC) to mark the International Day for Universal Access to Information, to promote the right of access to information, as well as to share knowledge by raising global awareness of this year’s theme: “Ensuring access to information about the environment in the digital age”. The Agency has prepared an analysis of the topic, and it will be shared in the Special Bulletin of ICIC 2025.
You can find the analysis at the following link:
