Malta, 6 March 2020 – Access Info Europe representatives today met with civil society and journalists from Malta to discuss strategies for improving respect for the right of access to information. The discussion centred on how to ensure that the 2008 Freedom of Information Act is properly implemented, as well as how to secure eventual improvements to the law, and how to change the administrative culture to one more favourable to transparency and open government. The problems identified include high levels of refusals which do not contain detailed justifications, administrative silence, the length of the appeals process, and examples of

Malta, 5 March 2020 – Access Info today argued before the Maltese Information and Data Protection Appeals Tribunal that denying non-residents the right to request information violates Malta’s commitments under international human rights law, EU law, and its own Constitution. The legal challenge relates to a refusal in August 2019 by Malta’s Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security to register a request on migrant returns made by Access Info’s Martina Tombini on the grounds that Malta’s FOI law states that only those who are EU citizens and have been resident for at least five years can submit requests. In

Madrid, 22 November 2019 – Access Info Europe has lodged an appeal to Malta’s Information and Data Protection Appeals Tribunal after an access to documents request was refused due to the fact that the requester is not a resident in Malta. In the appeal, Access Info argues that residency requirements are a violation of the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information, and calls for Malta's Freedom of Information Act to be brought into line with international standards. The case began when the Ministry for Home Affairs and National Security in Malta refused to register a request sent by

Madrid, 31 October 2019 - The Montenegrin government has proposed amendments to its Law on Free Access to Information that directly contradict international standards and undermine the fundamental right of freedom of expression. Access Info today voiced its serious concern and urged the Government to reconsider. Together with MANS, an anti-corruption NGO in Montenegro, Access Info has submitted a legal analysis of the proposed amendments to Montenegro’s Ministry of Public Administration on Law on Free Access to Information. The proposed changes would take Montenegro further away from international standards on transparency. Specifically, they would result in a law that is

22 March 2019 – Access Info Europe, together with civil society partners from across Europe, meeting today in Amsterdam, created a new foundation to promote citizen engagement in decision making using the CONSUL participation platform. The CONSUL Democracy Foundation will promote citizen participation worldwide and will oversee the use and development of the largest open source digital democracy platform – CONSUL, a citizen participation tool currently in use by over 100 institutions in 35 countries. CONSUL is an open source platform, whose development was started by Madrid City Council in 2015 and has since been taken up and expanded by municipalities