Can citizens in Greece request information and documents from the public sector? If so, how? Lawyers and stakeholders shared their insights with iMEdD about recent changes to the legislative framework.
Imagine being able to check the hygiene standards of the restaurant you’re dining at using just a mobile app.
In the UK, citizens can do it easily. Publicly available data is used to power an interactive map that shows how restaurants comply with health protocols.
Veronica Fletcher, who suffers from food allergies, launched the Grubby Grub in order to ensure that the establishments she visited had received good hygiene reviews. Using government data, she created an accessible map that informs her fellow citizens – in real time – which restaurants failed their latest health inspections.
“It’s important to have such data publicly available because it keeps standards high,” Fletcher tells iMEdD. “If the data remained private, shop owners might be less concerned about hygiene.”
This is just one example of how public data can be harnessed to improve citizens’ daily lives.
In Greece, while the rights to access information and request documents from public administration are constitutionally guaranteed, they remain relatively unknown to the public and challenging to exercise in practice.
What’s in force?
Beyond the Constitution, the primary legislation governing access to public information and documents in Greece is outlined in the Code of Administrative Procedure, particularly Article 5. This article specifies citizens’ rights to access administrative and private documents held by public authorities. It also details the methods of access, specific time limits for administrative responses, and exceptions to the right.
This legislative framework is further supplemented by additional laws and provisions, such as Presidential Decree 28/2015 and Chapters I and IA of Law 4727/2020 ect.
Vouliwatch, a non-profit organization focused on access to public information, describes the existing legislative framework in Greece as “fragmented” and “labyrinthine” in a recent policy document titled “Recommendations for Reforming the Legal Framework of the Right of Access to Public Information.” The organization notes that this complexity poses a significant barrier to exercising these rights effectively.
Stefanos Loukopoulos, Director and Co-Founder of Vouliwatch, explains that, “despite the existence of a legislative framework, its practical implementation faces significant challenges, such as delays, poor compliance by public authorities, and limited public awareness.”
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The importance of public information
Legal experts point out to iMEdD that the right of access to public documents, as part of the broader right to public information, is fundamental to the proper functioning of democracy.
“This right is closely linked to the principle of the rule of law and the functioning of democratic governance,” says Charalambos Chrysanthakis, Professor of Administrative Law and Administrative Institutions and Chairman of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
In its policy document, Vouliwatch links access to public information with additional fundamental rights, including freedom of expression, freedom of the press, and judicial protection.
This right is closely linked to the principle of the rule of law and the functioning of the democratic constitution.
Charalambos Chrysanthakis, Professor of Administrative Law and Administrative Institutions and Chairman of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
This is echoed by the Greek Ombudsman. In a letter sent to the Chairman of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Public Administration, Public Order, and Justice on October 2, 2024, the Ombudsman states: “(The right of access) constitutes—in accordance with the principle of transparency in the actions of public authorities in a democratic society—a source of information for the public that contributes to opinion formation and strengthens the integrity, accountability, and transparency of public authorities.”
The importance of public information is also evident in the practice of journalism. Despite setbacks in public administration, as highlighted in Eliza Triantafyllou’s March 2023 iMEdD report “The slow death of open data in Greece,” journalists continuously seek public information to inform the public. Examples include when during the COVID-19 pandemic inside story used data from OASA’s telematics infrastructure to investigate conditions on public transport, and when iMEdD’s data team analyzed the spread of the coronavirus in Greek prisons.
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The new legislative framework
On October 9, 2024, the Greek Parliament passed Law 5143/2024, introduced by the Ministry of Interior, titled “Arrangements for Land Border Stations, the Strengthening of Local Authorities, and Other Provisions.” Among the seventy articles in the law, Article 59 introduces the latest amendment to the legal framework governing access to public information—specifically, access to public documents.
Under the new regulation, any person or legal entity can now request access to public documents, either anonymously or with identification, in person or electronically. The only exception is documents containing third-party personal data, for which a reasonable interest is required. Legal experts view this regulation as an extension of the right, as until recently, the concept of reasonable interest was a prerequisite for all requests concerning administrative documents.
The Explanatory Memorandum for the new legislation states that it “incorporates (i.e. into Greek law) the application of the Council of Europe’s Tromsø Convention on Access to Official Documents”. This is the first international, legally binding text that recognizes a general right of access to official documents held by public authorities. The Convention has been open for signature by Council of Europe member states since 2009 and entered into force in 2020. In total, 21 countries have signed the Convention, and so far 16 have ratified it and implemented it.
This is a partial, selective incorporation of the provisions of that Convention, a political choice, of course.
Andreas Pottakis, The Greek Ombudsman.
According to the Greek Ombudsman, despite being a member of the Council of Europe since 1949, Greece has not taken any of the required steps—signature, ratification, or entry into force—regarding the Tromsø Convention.
“This is a partial, selective incorporation of the provisions of that Convention, a political choice, of course,” the Ombudsman, Andreas Pottakis said in a statement to iMEdD about the recent regulation.
Vouliwatch calls for the ratification and full implementation of the Tromsø Convention through its relevant policy document, which states that “ratifying and implementing the Convention will align the Greek legal system with international best practices and standards.” It also notes that “incorporating the Convention into domestic law will support the work of journalists and civil society actors, which, in turn, will strengthen press freedom and ensure the provision of accurate, reliable, and correct information to citizens.”
Vouliwatch assesses that despite the improvements brought by the new law, obstacles remain, such as the lack of a single legal framework that fully regulates the right of access, and the absence of explicit references to information more broadly, not just documents, in the current framework.
We believe that the recent regulation, while a small step forward, is not enough to guarantee the full and effective right of access to public information, which is crucial for a modern democracy.
Stefanos Loukopoulos, Co-founder & Director, Vouliwatch.
“We believe that the recent regulation, while a small step forward, is not enough to guarantee the full and effective right of access to public information, which is crucial for a modern democracy,” says Loukopoulos.
The new law removes the previous distinction between administrative and private documents, treating them equally under the term “public documents,” and expands the definition of public service to include “all bodies exercising public authority, regardless of their legal form.”
“The entire regulation is driven by the desire to expand the right of access to documents and data from the administration, and this is certainly commendable,” notes Mr. Chrysanthakis.
However, in his October letter, the Ombudsman points out that the “reasonable interest” requirement as a “filter” in the new legislative framework carries the risk of abuse. This could lead to a surge in requests for access to documents, potentially causing delays and mismanagement by the administration.
The Vouliwatch initiative
In October, Vouliwatch launched a new campaign to strengthen the right of access to public information, titled “You have the right to know, they ought to tell you.” The initiative is supported by 14 civil society organizations— including iMEdD—along with independent media.
The initiative’s policy document and recommendations outline several proposals, including the creation of a single piece of legislation to cover all aspects of the right of access, the unrestricted exercise of this right, the possibility of electronic access to information and documents held by public authorities, the maintenance of statistics and data, and more.
The goal, as Mr. Loukopoulos explains, is “to bridge the gap between legislation and practice, so that this right is not just theoretical but is effectively exercised by everyone.”
