Parliament’s Committee on Rights and Freedoms in Tunisia on June 3 adopted a bill on the right of access to information, according to a DirectInfo article (in French).
The legislation has been generally praised by freedom of information activists, but they also have pointed out weaknesses. (See previous FreedomInfo.org reports.) No comments on the committee-approved version were immediately available.
The law applies to the central government, local authorities, parliament, judicial and constitutional bodies, independent public authorities, regulatory bodies, associations, and public law persons charged with a public service mission and structures receiving public funding.
An independent public body access to information will be created. Members will be an administrative magistrate (Chairman); a judge at the Court of Auditors; a university teacher specializing in information technology, administrative records and archives; a lawyer and a journalist. It also will include a representative of the National Authority for Protection of Personal Data and a representative associations operating in areas related to access to information.
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