PAICV BILL - Maika Lobo

I will only deal with some matters of this project, due to its length and lack of time.

However, two preliminary questions:

a) If this bill is so important, so crucial to combating the lack of transparency in Public Administration, is it not understandable why the PAICV did not introduce it in the fifteen years of its governance? Was it just an oversight?

b) In the presentation of the project in Parliament, Paicv wanted to convey the idea that access to documents and information would only be done online! Is not true!

Right of access:

Article 3 of the project, in numbers 1 and 3 a), says the following: “Any citizen has the right to administrative documents and information, and access is exercised through the following means, according to the applicant’s option, through free consultation, carried out in the services that hold them (art. 3, subparagraph a)). And the “reproduction of documents can be by photocopy or any technical means (art. 3, subparagraph d))”.

Scope of application:

There is no public service or employee that escapes the obligations of this law: all public bodies, the Public Administration, public institutes, associations, foundations, public companies, local authorities and their associations, municipal and intermunicipal companies, other administrative entities, other entities administrative entities with legal personality, services of general interest subject to privatization or concession, etc., etc.

Even private entities are bound by this law: “Private entities that sign program contracts, receive aid or subsidies are subject to the obligations set forth in this decree-law (art. 5, subsection 4).

Objective scope:

Among other matters, it is said that it is mandatory to provide accounting documents and information on “Missions abroad, indicating, namely, the destination, position or category of the members of the mission, objectives, cost and entities that bear the costs (art. 6, item d)).

It is also mandatory to provide accounts and information on “Institutional advertising actions, with an indication of the targeted public services, advertising media used and costs incurred (art. 6, subparagraph e)).

It is also necessary to prove the applicable legal and regulatory framework (art. 6, paragraph f)).

All State services -from top to bottom- will be required to present documents and information on: “Guidelines, instructions, circulars and responses to queries from citizens and companies (art. 6, no. 2, al. a), initiatives and opinions (art. 6, item b); draft regulations (6, paragraph c); memoirs, reports and preparatory work (art. 6, subsection); statistical data (art. 6, no. 3, item b); agreements and protocols (art. 6, no. 3, subparagraph c); concession contracts and subcontracts (art. 6, no. 3, subparagraph d); subsidies (art. 6, no. 3, item e)); descriptive salaries of all civil servants and civil servants (art. 6, no. 3, subparagraph f)); all dispatches (art. 6, no. 3, item h)); the declarations of interest, their assets and income of all civil servants and civil servants (art. 11, no. 1)).

And if these documents and information are not made available, there will be a fine of 50,000 to 250,000 escudos!

Anyway, the list goes on!

With this bill, it will not be difficult to understand the intention of Paicv!

The State, the whole State, would not have time to do anything else!

Finally, on this matter, I argue that, instead of moving towards a separate law, without framing the reform of the administrative system, a Code of Administrative Procedures should be drawn up, corroborating the opinion of Dr. Eurico Pinto Monteiro.