Slide 60 DIVULGATION OF INFORMATION THROUGH OFFICIAL WEB-PAGES

Today almost all public bodies have their own official web-pages

For instance,

· web-page of the Verkhovna Rada: http://rada.gov.ua/

· web-page of the Cabinet of Ministers: http://www.kmu.gov.ua/

· web-page of the Kharkiv City Council: http://www.city.kharkov.ua/ru/

· web-page of the State Migration Service: http://dmsu.gov.ua/

· etc.

Besides, there are lots of web-pages with open databases, registers held by the state (register of companies, register of real property rights, register of court decisions, etc.).

One more cool useful thing to notice – parliament has recently adopted law on openness of public funds use. The law provides for the creation of a special single web portal, where officials are obliged to disclose quarterly information on planned and actual use of public funds. For instance, how much money has been allocated from the local budget of Kyiv for the regular trip of Vitali Klitschko to London.

Slide 61 WHY THE HECK DO I NEED ALL THESE WEB-PAGES?

Slide 62

· Very often you may find legal advices there and useful information on “core” issues public body is specialized in.

For instance:

- If you received education in Ukraine but plan moving to Europe or continuing education there – in the relevant section of the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine web-page (http://www.minjust.gov.ua/comments) you may find information on how to certify your educational documents for their legal force abroad

- and vice versa, if you for ever and ever fall in love with Ukraine and plan purchasing some real property here - with help of the State Registration Service web-page you can make online inquiries about specific real property object and check its “history” (http://www.drsu.gov.ua/show/63)

- If the company "Horns and Hooves" offers you compulsively to buy by wholesale 1 million of white socks for the left foot and you find this deal suspicious – on the web-page of state companies` register you can check whether this company exists and is not involved in bankruptcy proceedings, who is the founder, etc http://irc.gov.ua/ru/Poshuk-v-YeDR.html

- if you are tortured by collector`s letters to pay off your grandmother`s debt for the bank credit she took 100 years ago because there is court decision that obliges you to do so – you may check it on the web-page of court decisions’ register http://www.reyestr.court.gov.ua/

- If you plan to register your own trade mark – there is a possibility to check whether no wonk did it with the same image before you (web-page of the Institute of Industrial Property http://base.uipv.org/searchBUL/search.php?dbname=certtm )

Slide 63

These web-sites also contain assets` declarations of relevant public officers. After you read it a few options appear. You may:

· Laugh

· Grieve

· lodge a lustration complaint about inconsistency between submitted declaration and real income of public official (http://lku.org.ua/lustskarga)

· Try to find a perspective spouse?

Slide 64

· Web-pages of public bodies contain texts of laws/bylaws/regulations adopted by them

· Sometimes precisely the web-page of public body is the place where "corruption component" may be found

Finally, you can save a lot on your lawyer and start collecting money for a vacation!

… or collect $ 1,000 and present them to Sarmat -)

Slide 65One more way to realize your right to access to public information is an informational request.

Request for public information –request of a person (i.e. you) to the information provider (for example, the Ministry of Education) to grant public information, which is in its possession.

NB! You cannot get legal advices by means of the request for public information – information must be already available in information provider. But you may receive legal advice by lodging citizen`s application. It will just take longer time to get the respond:

· usual duration for handling informational request – 5 days

· citizen`s application – 15 days

Slide 66 WHO IS OBLIGED TO RESPOND TO MY REQUESTS FOR PUBLIC INFORMATION?

· Subjects of public authority

For instance, you may lodge a request to Kharkiv City Council and demand report on budget funds that were spent on road repairs during last year

· legal entity that are financed from state or local budget

For instance, you may ask your university about precise needs for which they spent budgetary funds this January

· Companies that occupy dominant position in the market/are natural monopolies - (for information on the conditions for the supply of goods, services and prices for them).

For instance, you may send a request to KharkivVodoCanal and demand a detailed water tariffs` calculation

· Companies that hold information about environment, quality of food and consumer goods, accidents, disasters, natural hazards and other emergencies that have occurred or may occur and threaten the health and safety of citizens, other information of public interest (socially essential information).

For instance, ask “Morshinka” company whether frequent consumption of their water can lead to excessive mineralization of your body and what is the save consumption dose for people

HOW SHOULD MY REQUEST FOR INFORMATION LOOK LIKE?

· you may file the request regardless of your connection with that information (it may not concern you at all), you don`t have to explain the reason you need this information

· request may be both individual or collective

· request may be lodged in any form (in writing, by email)

The form of the request may also be any you want (no obligatory pattern), but it must contain following essential elements:

- Name of the requestor

- Address or email, also phone number- if available

- general description of information you request

- requestor`s signature and date of lodging the request (if lodged in writing)

Date: 2016-01-14; view: 968