Ensuring Effective Access To Information: Changes To The Law At All Levels Are Needed

Banja Luka, April 14^th, 2026 – Almost half of the institutions in BiH do not respond to requests for access to information within the legal deadline, while only 140 out of 394 institutions submitted data on time. At the same time, the existing entity laws do not oblige institutions to proactively publish key information, nor they provide effective oversight and legal protection of citizens, which are significant shortcomings and reason why Transparency International in BiH, together with 27 civil society organizations, has sent initiatives to amend the law on freedom of access to information at all levels of government in BiH.

The application of existing laws shows that institutions continue to withhold information of public interest, especially that related to the spending of public funds. Almost half of the authorities do not respond within the legal deadline, while only a third have submitted information on time, and in practice legal loopholes are often used to avoid transparency.

In addition to neglecting deadlines, institutions in BiH also ignore court rulings that require them to provide the information that citizens and civil society organizations requested. Thus, the Court of BiH has ended only three of the eight administrative disputes initiated by TI BiH against public authorities that refuse to provide the requested information, while the low level of efficiency of the judiciary in providing legal protection in this area is outlined by the fact that TI BiH has been waiting for judgments  for more than a year, despite the deadline of 60 days for making a court decision, which is prescribed by law.

The inefficiency of the courts, the absence of penalties and the inability to sanction have enabled institutions to evade the application of the law on freedom of access to information, while citizens are deprived of adequate legal protection. This is best illustrated by the example of the dispute against the RS Ministry of Transport and Communications, which persistently ignores multiple court rulings and refuses to publish the concession contract for the Banja Luka-Prijedor highway without sanctions, protecting the commercial interests of the Chinese investor instead of the interests of citizens who remain deprived of the financial aspects of this important infrastructure project.

In addition to problems in implementation, the entity laws lack the obligation of so-called proactive transparency, so institutions are not obliged to publish materials for sessions, budgets, draft laws and other documents in the field of their work, which is why the public remains deprived of information about decision-making processes and the ways in which public money is spent.

This is the main reason why civil society organizations are proposing  the introduction of the obligation to proactively publish draft laws, decisions and other materials containing data on the spending of public funds in a machine-readable format (Word and text PDF), so that they are accessible to persons with disabilities who use screen readers, which is an international obligation of BiH in accordance with the UN Convention.

The initiatives also call for the introduction of the obligation to adopt formal decisions in response to the request for free access to information, and inspection supervision over the application of the law, as well as the possibility of imposing penalties in the cases of illegal withholding of information. This is especially important in Republika Srpska, where it is the practice of institutions to respond to requests with a simple “letter”, often without signatures and seals, which directly denies citizens the right to appeal and similar mechanisms of legal protection.

In the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is proposed to harmonize with the laws on administrative procedure, specify legal remedies and establish effective supervision over the implementation of the law, with the requirement that information must be submitted in a machine-readable and accessible format.

On the other hand, the new Law on Freedom of Access to Information at the level of BiH institutions, adopted as one of the reform laws on the European path, did not speed up the publication of data of public interest, and in some areas brought negative effects. The existing second-instance mechanism for the protection of rights is not sufficiently functional and independent, which is why TI BiH proposes to shorten the deadlines for the Appeal Body from 60 to 45 days in cases of conducting the public interest test.

All initiatives have a common goal, which is to move from formal to actual access to information, through clear obligations of institutions, effective monitoring and availability of data in practice. Without these changes, the right of access to information remains limited, and the space for misuse of public resources significantly increases, and the strengthening of transparency and accountability of institutions, which is one of the basic requirements in the process of European integration of BiH, is just an empty platitude of political leaders.

Signatories of the initiatives:

Transparency International in BiH, Your Rights BiH, Balkan Investigative Reporting Network – BIRN BiH, Center for Investigative Reporting – CIN, Sarajevo Open Centre – SOC, CA “Why Not,” Helsinki Citizens’ Parliament Banja Luka, ProPeace in BiH, CA Tolerance Against Differences – ToPeer, Doboj, Centers for Civic Initiatives – CCI BiH, Infohouse Foundation, Peacebuilding Network Association, BH Journalists Association, Women’s Association “Make a Difference,” My Right – Empowers people with disabilities, CURE Foundation, “Aarhus Resource Centre in BiH” Association, Association for Democratic Initiatives – ADI Sarajevo, Roma Information Center “Kali Sara,” Youth Center “Kvart” Prijedor, Atelier for Social Change Foundation, Citizens’ Association “Oštra nula,” United Women Banja Luka Foundation, Perpetuum mobile – Institute for Youth and Community Development Banja Luka, Association of Independent Creators and Activists Unsa Geto, Banja Luka Centre for Human Rights, Citizens’ Association “Zdravo da ste,” Genesis Project Association

Press rls_14_04_2026