Baghdad, The Supreme Judicial Council revealed its position on the legislation of the Access to Information Law, which the House of Representatives completed its first reading at the beginning of this year.
Judge of the Publication and Media Court in Karkh, Amer Hassan, stated in a statement to the National Iraqi News Agency / NINA /, that “the draft law on access to information is currently in the hands of the House of Representatives, and the Judicial Council participated in hearings with the parliamentary committees concerned with legislating the law, and presented its point of view on the law.”
He added, “The Access to Information Law is complementary to the Freedom of Expression Law, and an essential part of regulating freedom of expression so that every citizen can obtain information as part of his rights to express his opinion, because freedom of expression is represented in the right to obtain information, republish it and receive it.”
The judge of the Publication and Media Court stressed the neces
sity of legislating the law based on this principle, or adopting the maximum disclosure of information that state departments must make available to the general public, without any restrictions except for the requirements of the public interest and order.
The House of Representatives concluded the first reading of the draft Access to Information Law during its session held on February 14.
Source: National Iraqi News Agency