The Independent Journalism Center (CJI) submitted a new petition to Parliament whereby it requests the legislature’s administration to finish the amendment of the Law on Access to Information. CJI members said the adoption of this bill is awaited by journalists as the changes that it contains will facilitate and improve the procedure for registering requests for information, IPN reports.

The signatories of the petition say the amendment of the Law on Access to Information will enable to reduce the period during which information must be provided and will make harsher the punishments for the violation of the legislation on access to information by persons responsible for presentation of information.

The proposals refer to the optimization of the procedure for registering requests for information in a special register of request of information applications. Currently, these requests are registered together with petitions. It is suggested reducing the period for the provision of official information by public authorities from ‘not later than 15 workdays of the registration of the request’, as it is stipulated now, to at most ten calendar days.

The legislative initiative was registered in Parliament by a group of unaffiliated MPs on March 11, 2016 and was passed in the first reading on July 28, 2016. According to media organization, the adoption of the bill in the second reading is delayed.

The petition was signed by 116 persons.