Turkish Right to Information Act 2003
There were calls for the enactment of a Turkish freedom of information laws for many years. The 1982 Turkish Constitution through article 26 only provided a right of free expression including the right to receive information but this did not include a right to seek information from public authorities. There was a serious attempt at legislation between 1998-2001. A draft bill entitled Idari Usul ve Bilgi Edinme Hakki Kanunu (Administrative Procedural and Right to Information Law) was developed by the Prime Ministry but this was never discussed at the Parliament.
Subsequently, the 58th Government Plan of 2003 (Ak Party -Justice and Development Party) announced that the government would legislate and provide its citizens with a right to information to ensure transparency, participation, and public accountability. This was a welcome announcement towards openness, and democratization in Turkey. Turkey, was not for example, obliged by the European Union to adopt a freedom of information law with regards to its pending membership negotiations with the European Union. In fact, on the contrary, Turkey was quicker than Germany to adopt such a law and to provide its citizens with a right to receive information from public institutions. Further details for the legislation were revealed within the Government’s January 2003 Emergency Action Plan, and it was announced that the work towards the drafting of a Right to Information Act would be conducted within the next three months. This was part of the government’s plan to reform the central public administration and the lead responsibility was given to the Ministry of Justice.
The draft legislation prepared by the Ministry of Justice was introduced to the Parliament on 25 June, 2003. A Parliamentary report by the EU Compatibility Commission of the Parliament was published on 16 July, 2003. A subsequent report on the draft bill prepared by the Justice Commission of the Turkish Parliament was published on 24 July, 2003.
On 08-09 October, 2003 the Turkish Parliament discussed the Right to Information Bill. 237 Turkish MPs out of a total of 550 were present for the final voting on the Right to Information Bill and all of the present MPs (including from the opposition) unanimously voted for the Bill to become law. The Turkish Parliament enacted the Right to Information Act 2003, Bilgi Edinme Hakki Kanunu (No: 4982). The government also announced the drafting of two further legislation to clarify the meaning of “state secrecy” and “trade secrets” on the day the Right to Information Act was enacted. Although the draft bills on these related secrecy laws (Devlet Sırları Kanunu Tasarısı, and Ticari Sırlar Kanunu Tasarısı) were published by the Ministry of Justice during 2004, they are yet to become law as of this writing.
The Right to Information Act 2003 came into force six months after the date of its publication in the Official Gazette on 24 April, 2004.
The 2003 legislation aims to regulate the procedure and the basis of the right to information according to the principles of equality, impartiality and openness that are the necessities of a democratic and transparent government (article 1). The law covers all public institutions and private institutions performing public functions.
The Right to Information Act 2003 ( Law No. 4982) is accessible in English through the BilgiEdinmeHakki.Org pages.
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