Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey - Federation of ...

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formats or of certain types, such as emails. Given the relative recent vintage of the law, whether this will
be the case remains to be seen.
State bodies are defi ned in Article 2(2) as including bodies established by the Constitution or other
laws or decrees, legislative, executive and judicial bodies, bodies which execute the decisions of the
aforementioned bodies, bodies fi nanced from the State budget, as well as local (‘territorial subdivision’)
bodies realising central State functions. Local self-government bodies – the RTI Law consistently refers
to State and local self-government bodies – are defi ned as “representative, executive-administrative and
other bodies” formed by the public at the local level for resolving local issues. Both terms – State and
local self-government bodies – also include any institution fi nanced from the federal or local budget which
realises functions ‘not related’ to State power or self-government, including bodies focusing on “health,
educational, informational, statistics, advisory or credit issues”.
This appears to be a relatively wide defi nition of public bodies, although private bodies undertaking public
functions, even if not funded from the public purse, are additionally included in many right to information
laws.
The right of access, as defi ned in Article 3, applies simply to everyone and would thus appear not to be
limited in any way, for example to citizens or residents. Certain other provisions in the Law – such as the
right to attend meetings – are limited in scope to citizens, suggesting that the broader formulation here is
deliberate.
Procedural Guarantees
As noted above, the procedural provisions in the Kyrgyz RTI Law are very detailed, running to some four
pages. Pursuant to Article 7(1), requests may be made orally, by telephone, or in writing via personal
delivery, post, courier or electronic channels (see also Article 9). Article 8 sets out clear rules for dealing
with oral requests. Article 8(2) provides that ‘short information’ requested orally shall be provided orally,
eliminating the need for a written request. Where an oral response does not fully satisfy the applicant, he
or she shall be informed about how to make a written request and other means of receiving information
under the Law. Oral requests have to be registered along with information about the applicant and the
offi cial who responded to the request.
Pursuant to Article 9, written requests must contain the name of the public body and/or offi cial to whom
the request is made, the name, date of birth and residence of the applicant (or similar information for legal
applicants), and a suffi cient description of the information to enable it to be identifi ed. Where this is not
clear, the onus is on the offi cial receiving the request to clarify the request by contacting the applicant or by
other means. Otherwise, however, the Law does not make provision for assistance to applicants. Reasons
are not required to be given for a request. Request forms must be provided at the premises of public
bodies, as well as at post offi ces, and shall include, on the underside, an explanation of how they are to be
fi lled out, and details about the process and fees.
Article 11(3) provides that the information provided in response to a request shall be complete, so that the
applicant is not required to make repeated requests. This is repeated in Article 11(4)(2). Furthermore, the
offi cial processing the request may not ask the applicant how he or she intends to use the information.
Both of these rules, which are not commonly found in right to information laws, refl ect a certain suspicion
about the proper application of the rules by the authorities.
Article 11(1) provides for written requests to be registered with the public body which receives them and
for the register to include the date the request was received, information about the applicant, a short
statement of the subject of the request, the name and position of the offi cial receiving the request, the
reasons for any refusal to provide information, any payment levied, any information about forwarding the
request, the date the reply was sent to the applicant and information describing the main stages of the
preparation of the reply. Presumably this register develops as the request is processed. If implemented
well, this should provide an excellent tracking system for requests.