The Council of Europe Group on Access to information (AIG) held its 9th meeting from 14 to 16 May 2025, in Paris.
The AIG adopted its baseline evaluation report on the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS No.205) in respect of Slovenia. The report will be published within a month’s time of its transmission to the relevant Party for comments together with any comments received in this context. The AIG also adopted its draft baseline evaluation in respect of Spain which will be sent to the relevant Party for comments.
The AIG’s discussions on the definition of official documents in Article 1, paragraph 2, sub-paragraph b, of the Convention focused on the interpretation of the notion of “drawn up” included in this provision. The final draft opinion will be examined with a view to its adoption at its 10th meeting.
The AIG decided to focus its subsequent evaluation round of all Parties to the Convention on issues relating to time limits for responding to access requests (Article 5 paragraph 4, of the Convention), the management of documents efficiently so that they are easily accessible, and the application of rules for the preservation and destruction of documents (Article 9 sub-paragraphs c and d, of the Convention).