The right to access information held by state authorities is today accepted as a basic human right, guaranteed by both international and national regulations. Free access to information forms the basis of democratic life, contributes to the transparency of public administration and enables citizens to develop a critical and objective view of the state and events in society. Through this access, citizens are enabled, in accordance with the legal framework, to gain insight into matters of public interest.

After pressure by independent media and the civil sector, the first Law on Free Access to Information was adopted in 2005. This Law was in force until November 23, 2012, when the new Law on Free Access to Information entered into force, which, with the amendment adopted in 2017, has been in legal force until today. These amendments further limit the right to free access to information for the most important users of this law, citizens, non-governmental organizations and the media.

The analysis shows the entire process of introducing this right into the legal system of Montenegro, and the case study includes an assessment of the degree of understanding of the process of exercising the right to access to information and transparency of public administration, positions related to the inefficiency of institutions and limitations of the current law, as well as the complexity of the procedure, assessment of the level of expertise and transparency of public administration. As a result of the analysis, at the end, specific recommendations were given that are necessary to facilitate free access to information.

This brochure was created within the project “Tražimo da znamo!” (“We want to know!”), which was implemented by the KOD Organisation in partnership with the NGO Civic Initiative “Sačuvajmo Sinjajevinu” (Save Sinjajevina), with the support of the Ministry of Public Administration.

The opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations presented here are the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Ministry of Public Administration.