site.btaAccess to Information Programme CEO Warns of Return of Practices Bulgarians Hoped to Leave Behind

Practices from 35 years ago, which Bulgarians had hoped would not resume, are beginning to return, Access to Information Programme (AIP) Executive Director Alexander Kashumov said at the Bulgarian News Agency's National Press Club in Sofia on Friday. "The role of civil society organisations is being questioned, fascist marches in the streets and attempts to violate people's basic rights are resuming. NGOs, journalists, active citizens who are the bearers of rights for democracy are presented as enemies and spies. This hostile environment must be accounted for," he stressed.

Every year between 10,000 and 15,000 people apply for access to information, he said, presenting the 25th report on the state of access to information in Bulgaria, which includes data for 2024.

"We are worried about the Lobbying Bill becoming a law for foreign agents," Kashumov said.

On May 29, Justice Minister Georgi Georgiev said that the Government is aiming to present the Lobbying Bill by the end of June, as currently it is discussed with representatives of the civil sector and of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Commission. He explained that the idea behind the bill is to bring to light and regulate the way in which certain stakeholders impact decision-making in the legislative process. 

In February, a foreign agents registration bill was moved by the Vazrazhdane parliamentary group but was defeated by the National Assembly on first reading. It proposed that all people in Bulgaria who have received or are receiving foreign funding should be registered. It envisioned that the Justice Ministry would keep a public electronic register of foreign agents, who would have 15 days to declare that they receive foreign funding after such funding reached BGN 1,000.

On Friday, Kashumov said that in the report there are recommendations regarding legislation related to access to public information. The experts believe that the Access to Public Information Act should be kept in line with the Constitution and international standards. Restrictions on the right of access are permissible only as an exception, to protect a competing right or legitimate interest from harm, if the public interest in access does not outweigh it, the AIP CEO stressed.

Information relating to draft legislation, the activities of working groups and opinions in the framework of drafting and discussion procedures, as well as formal and informal meetings and meetings involving public authorities and public officials, should be made publicly available to the maximum extent possible, the recommendations said.

The report reads that the concept of “investigative secrecy” should be interpreted and applied strictly. This protection should not be without time limit. Once the proceedings have been concluded, the main acts relating to them should be accessible, except in the parts containing protected information.

Acts of initiation, continuation, suspension, termination of pre-trial proceedings and prosecutorial investigations of high public interest, especially those related to persons in high public office or politicians, as well as information on the progress of such proceedings, should be accessible, the analysis argues.

Changes should be made to the Protection of Classified Information Act (PCIA), it reads.

The Council of Ministers and the State Commission on Information Security should initiate, support and monitor the process of declassification of documents in the executive branch, in accordance with the requirements of the PCIA and its Implementing Regulations, and ensure the publicity of lists of declassified documents, the analysts recommended.

Regarding judicial acts, the analysts recommended a change in the Judicial System Act so that all judicial acts are subject to publication, together with the reasons, and the limitation of their publicity is limited to the deletion/deleting only of information that is subject to protection. In addition, the Judges College of the Supreme Judicial Council and the presidents of the Supreme Court of Cassation, the Courts of Appeal, the District Courts and the Regional Courts should take measures to publish the records of public hearings in criminal, civil and commercial cases on the courts' websites. Clear rules on the active disclosure of information in cases of high public interest are also needed, according to the report.