AMMAN – On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed 13
articles of a revised bill for the 2019
Guarantee of Access to Information Law,
Al-Mamlaka TV reported.
اضافة اعلان
Nancy Namrouqa,
Minister of State for Legal Affairs, stated
that the bill included the cancellation of Article 8 and its replacement with a
new article, explaining that "the current article states that it is the
responsibility of the official to facilitate access to information, but the
bill includes in more than one article the process of facilitation and putting
it in text in the law and not just an obligation on the official without being
specific and clear for all departments."
“Article 8 was entered by a new provision that was not
included in the current law, which is an important principle and one of the
best standards regarding access to information laws, which is the principle of
proactive disclosure,” she added. “Therefore, when we have a specific and large
set of information that the department must disclose under the provisions of
the law.”
Namrouqa stated that the law makes it easier for information
seekers if the information they want is already available on the department's
website.
The bill defines information as any written data, records,
statistics, written or photographic documents that are recorded or maintained
electronically or in any other way and are under the
official's supervision or jurisdiction.
The bill establishes the "Information Council,"
which is chaired by the Minister of Culture and includes the following members:
the Information Commissioner/Vice President, the General Secretaries of the
Ministries of Justice and Interior, the General Directors of the
Department of Statistics Department (DoS) , Moral Guidance in the Jordanian Armed Forces, the
General Commissioner for Human Rights, the Journalists Syndicate, the Lawyers
Syndicate, and representatives.
Following multiple meetings with professionals and concerned
parties, the Joint Parliamentary Committee accepted the measure as received
from the government, with certain revisions.
According to the reasons for the amended bill, it is in line
with international agreements and in line with best practices that govern
access to information laws, ensuring the promotion of transparency, integrity,
and an anti-corruption system, as well as promoting the culture of the right to
access information and allowing its seekers to obtain it.
The Information Council was reformed to include members from
civil society organizations, and agencies were required to mark which material
is private and protected using a system designed specifically for this purpose.
The Joint Parliamentary Committee proposed "limited
amendments" to the bill that was submitted to the council four years ago,
including the presence of the journalists’ and lawyers' syndicates, as well as
civil society representatives, on the membership of the Information Council,
which is formed under the provisions of the law.
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