Mongolia: Praise for Mongolia's freedom of information law

(ARTICLE 19/IFEX) - Ulan Bator: ARTICLE 19 welcomes the adoption of the Law on Information Transparency and Freedom of Information by the Parliament of Mongolia on June 16, 2011. The Law will come into effect on December 1, 2011.

"We are very pleased that Mongolia has now joined the nearly 90 countries across the world that provide legal protection for the right to information. The adoption of the Law on Information Transparency and Freedom of Information is an important milestone for enhancing public participation and government transparency in Mongolia," said Agnes Callamard, Executive Director ARTICLE 19.

"We call upon the government and civil society of Mongolia to work together and allocate the necessary resources to ensure the effective implementation of the Freedom of Information Law," continued Callamard.

There have been discussions in Mongolia around the adoption of a right to information legislation for a number of years. ARTICLE 19 provided comments on the Draft Law of Mongolia on Freedom of Information in 2003 and 2006 respectively.

In January 2011, the campaign for a right to information law gathered momentum when the Mongolian Ministry of Justice submitted to Parliament a Draft Law of Mongolia on Information Transparency and Freedom of Information.

Download a copy of the 2006 ARTICLE 19 Analysis of the draft of the Access to Information Bill:
mongolia_foi_law.pdf (149 KB)