GREAT EXPECTATIONS: THE NEW CROATIAN FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

Abstract

Croatia passed its first Law on the Right of Access to Information1
in October 2003, and
it was the third country among the former Yugoslavia’s republics to do so. Bosnia and
Herzegovina was the first to adopt FOI law in 2000, followed by Slovenia, Kosovo and Croatia
(2003), Serbia (2004), Macedonia and Montenegro (2005). It is interesting to note that among
the first 6 European countries with the best ranking position, taking in account the overall legal
framework for the right of information, there are four former Yugoslav republics. Serbia has
the best FOI law, followed by Slovenia (3rd), Croatia (9th), and Macedonia (13th).2 So, at first
sight, the countries of former Yugoslavia are, at least as to their FOI legal framework, a freedom
of information paradise.