On 22 July, Ambassador Dastid KORESHI, Permanent Representative of Albania, transmitted to the Secretary General of the Council of Europe the instruments of ratification of two landmark international treaties:
- the Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS 205), known as Tromsø Convention, with entry into force on 1 November 2022;
- the Protocol amending the Convention for the Protection of Individuals with regard to Automatic Processing of Personal Data (CETS 223), known as Convention 108+ on data protection, with no entry into force at this stage.
Council of Europe Convention on Access to Official Documents (CETS No. 205)
Tromsø Convention is the first binding international legal instrument to recognise a general right of access to official documents held by public authorities. Transparency of public authorities is a key feature of good governance and an indicator of whether or not a society is genuinely democratic and pluralist. The right of access to official documents is also essential to the self-development of people and to the exercise of fundamental human rights. It also strengthens public authorities’ legitimacy in the eyes of the public, and its confidence in them. This Convention lays down a right of access to official documents. Limitations on this right are only permitted in order to protect certain interests like national security, defence or privacy.
Convention 108+ (CETS No. 223)
The Protocol aims to modernise and improve the Convention 108, the only binding international instrument with global relevance in this field. It addresses the new challenges to the protection of privacy resulting from the use of new information and communication technologies having emerged since the adoption of the Convention in 1980. The Protocol also constitutes a bridge between different regions of the world and different normative frameworks, including the new European Union’s legislation in the context of transborder data flows.
More information:
- Tromsø Convention and its Group of specialists
- Council of Europe’s work in the field of data protection
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