"Information is the democracy’s oxigen”, somebody said at one point of time. Everybody has the right to seek, receive and spread information and ideas. Without that right, there could be no efficient control of the Government, i.e. it is increasingly difficult to have a responsible government, and increasingly easy to cover up for corruption. Without this right, it is impossible to vote freely.

These are just some of the basic terms used to justify the existence of Access to Information legislation. Access to information is increasingly treated as a basic human right. After all, Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights says:

Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; the right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers

However, the right to access to information differs from the other rights related to the freedom of information, for it advocates active participation of the holders of that right, who has the right to demand the information, and not just passively wait for information to come to him/her.

In the majority of cases, this means to take the initiative, to be active, and at the same time equal in that right, regardless whether the seeker of information is an individual, or media representative.

The first right of this type was officially recognized and legislated in Sweden, some 200 years ago, and it spread later to the rest of Scandinavia, and then to the US, Europe and the rest of the world. Germany, on the other hand, still lacks a proper federal legislation.
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30.01.2008 Marking the Data Protection Day, the OSCE Presence in Albania, the Delegation of the European Commission and the Council of Europe in Albania jointly emphasized the importance of a data protection system that meets European standards.

19.11.2007 Intergovernmental and civil society organisations propose a self-regulatory mechanism to foster participation, access to information and transparency in Internet governance at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) in Rio de Janeiro on 12 November 2007.

05.10.2005 Raising public awareness is the biggest challenge concerning the full implementation of the Freedom of Access to Information Act (FOIA) in Zenica, a mid-sized city north of Sarajevo. The conclusion was drawn from a survey designed by OSCE Mission to BiH Democratization department, conducted in July, 2005 by NGO Nasa Djeca (“Our Children”) with the support of the local municipality.

17.01.2008 The Cape Town Open Education Declaration arises from a meeting convened in Cape Town in September 2007. The purpose of the meeting was to accelerate the international effort to promote open resources, technology and teaching practices in education.