Sejm adopts public information bill exposing authorities to greater scrutiny

In what political analysts are describing as one of its most important acts of this term, the Sejm yesterday passed a bill on access to public information. The bill specifies citizens' constitutional right to information about the activities of public authorities and persons fulfilling public functions. The right also covers information about the activities of local governments and persons managing public funds. Thus it also concerns political parties and labor unions. The information will be available through the standardized information network, known as the Public Information Bulletin (BIP), which will be supervised by the Interior Minister. It will include a list of institutions, and the data that they are obliged to divulge. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1) K.K.