Hungary: Proposed constitution is serious threat to right to information
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Budapest/Berlin/Madrid, 15 April 2011 – In yet another assault on freedom of expression and information the Hungarian government is set to adopt a new Constitution on Monday 18 April which will abolish independent oversight of the public’s right to know.
Human rights and media freedom groups today warned that the proposal to replace the independent Data Protection and Freedom of Information Commissioner with an administrative authority will seriously weaken the right to access to information in Hungary, which in 1992 was the first country in central and eastern Europe to adopt an access law.
We're holding a workshop for investigative journalists in Budapest, Hungary from April 14-15. The training will empower local journalists to recoup their role as public watchdogs through exercise of their right to freedom of information and to strengthen their ability to protect their privacy, information, and sources.
The first BIRN Summer School of Investigative Reporting was held between August 22nd and 28th, at the Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad, Serbia. More than 60 trainers, panelists and participants had chance to see, hear and learn more about investigative reporting, to establish new contacts and to make new friends. Listen to the executive director of Access Info Europe, Helen Darbishire, on Access of Information Laws.
Legal Leaks Help Desk Launched
Monday, 27 September 2010
Berlin/Madrid, 28 September 2010 – A new service to provide journalists from across Europe with support and legal advice when filing access to information requests has been launched today by Access Info Europe and n-ost.
The Legal Leaks Help Desk starts operation on International Right to Know Day. It is open to all journalists who need help using access to information laws in any of the 56 countries of the OSCE region.
OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media presents access to information toolkit for journalists
Berlin – To mark this year’s World Press Freedom Day, which has a special focus on the Right to Know, the OSCE, Access Info (Madrid), and Berlin-based n-ost Network for Reporting on Eastern Europe will present a toolkit for journalists on how to use their right of access to information, the “Legal Leaks Toolkit”.
The right to know is the fundamental right of journalists and all citizens to access information held by public bodies. This right is an essential part of the right to freedom of expression anchored in Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The Legal Leaks Toolkit is a guide for journalists on how to make requests for information in 45 countries in the OSCE region, including most EU countries, the USA and Canada. It provides journalists with 20 Top Tips on how to use the right of access to information as a research tool, and gives guidance on how to turn both documents accessed and refusals into stories.
The Legal Leaks project being run by Access Info and n-ost will span several years and integrate training, legal support, and advocacy. Journalists will be supported in filing requests in different countries and over time the Legal Leaks project will develop a pan-European resource network for use by both local and investigative journalists.
The Legal Leaks press conference on
Monday, 3 May 2010 at 10.30 a.m. in the ARD Hauptstadtstudio, Berlin
will present:
Dunja Mijatović, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Vienna Hristo Hristov, journalist and editor, Dnevnik newspaper, Sofia Helen Darbishire, Executive Director, Access Info, Madrid Christian Mihr, Head of Media Policy projects, n-ost, Berlin
The n-ost / Access Info press conference will be the first public appearance in Germany of OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatović, who took office in mid-March.
Access Info Europe and n-ost are working to empower journalists to recoup their role as public watchdogs through exercise of their right of access to information in both their own country and other countries.
