Today, MANS presented new mobile app “Ask the institutions” by which all interested citizens can quickly and easily submit a request for free access to information, without going to state institutions.
The app was developed within a project supported by the European Union and aims to help citizens exercise their legally and constitutionally guaranteed right to timely and accurate information on the work of state institutions, public enterprises and state-owned companies, as well as legal entities that are mostly financed from the budget or exercise some public authority.
Special feature of the app is that a user, in case an institution rejects or ignores his/her request, has the support of MANS which will take all lawfully prescribed legal steps to ensure that the information is provided by the institution.
In addition to citizens, the app is intended for civil society organizations that have difficulty accessing the information they need to monitor the work of state institutions in areas that are the focus of their work or do not have sufficient capacity to complete the administrative procedure.
We expect that the media, especially investigative journalists, will have special benefit from the app, because it will enable them to provide accurate and reliable information for their stories, which will significantly increase the quality of investigative journalism in Montenegro.
Our previous experience has shown that complicated and lengthy administrative procedures have precisely been a key obstacle for journalists to be more persistent in their requests to state institutions. Although a number of journalists have used MANS’ service to obtain information so far, our intention is to further improve this service by introducing a mobile app, and enable journalists to have an effective tool for their investigation in their phone.
There are numerous reasons that speak in favour of how important and irreplaceable free access to information is in the fight against corruption, and some of the biggest corruption scandals in Montenegro were discovered on the basis of data obtained through the use of the Law on Free Access to Information.
In this regard, the efforts of certain state institutions to restrict citizens’ access to precisely that information that may indicate a violation of the law or corruption are not unexpected.
Therefore, we believe that it is necessary to further increase the awareness of citizens that the law guarantees them the right to information on institutions they pay to work in the public interest, and that this app will help to obtain the requested information much easier than before and thus create more positive practice in the application of the Law on Free Access to Information.
The app for Android smartphones can be downloaded from the Google Play Store at the following link:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=me.co.mans.pitajte_institucije
MANS
