Poland's Access to Information Law Needs Better Practice, Ombudsman Office Says

The future of Poland's law on access to public information was the subject of a recent meeting at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. However, the Office of the Ombudsman (RPO) notes that the issues are not new, having been under intensive monitoring and analysis since 2022.

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The problem lies in the tension between citizens' growing legal awareness and the public administration's capacity for effective case management.

Through extensive work, the RPO has identified 24 distinct problem categories related to the law's construction and its application by public administration bodies. Marek Chochowski from the RPO emphasizes that these issues are interconnected, rather than stemming from a single major dysfunction. He points to challenges like the Public Information Bulletin (BIP), proactive information publication, anonymous requests, abuse of law, and non-compliance with court rulings as symptoms of a larger problem.

Chochowski explains that the core issue lies in the growing gap between citizens' increasing legal awareness and the public administration's capacity to effectively handle information requests. He stresses that this is not a problem for citizens exercising their constitutional rights, but for the administration, which must ensure these rights are not merely symbolic but practically achievable.

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The law on access to public information is a law on the transparency of public life. Transparency, which the law secures, is, among other things, a guarantee of the UN principles of good governance, i.e. transparency, responsibility, accountability, participation, and responsiveness.

The Ombudsman's office views the law on access to public information as fundamental to public transparency and good governance, aligning with UN principles of accountability and participation. Joseph Stiglitz is cited, stating that the right to know is a basic right in a democratic society. The RPO's analysis, spanning five years, aims to propose necessary changes without undermining the law's core purpose.

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In a democratic society, the basic right is to know.