Public authorities lack knowledge and tools to correctly apply ‘Woo’
image: Laurin Steffens on Unsplash
Public authorities often have too little knowledge of the Open Government Act. This is ‘frustrating for applicants and leads to uncertainty for third parties’, says Annemarie Drahmann, Associate Professor of Administrative Law public-sector platform ‘iBestuur’.
The Wet open overheid (Open Government Act (Woo)) allows third parties to lodge an objection to the publication of documents in which they are mentioned. But research conducted by Leiden University for the Advisory Board on Public Access and Information Management (ACOI) shows that in practice, this procedure causes delays and frustration for Woo applications and leads to uncertainty for third parties. For the research, 843 court decisions were analysed and a survey was held among more than 300 civil servants, businesses and Woo applicants.
Principal investigator Annemarie Drahmann says it is a structural problem. ‘It is alarming that two and a half years after the Woo took effect, many administrative authorities still appear to have not invested enough in the software that is needed to correctly process Woo requests.’ One important explanation for this is the lack of knowledge about the Woo. Public-sector officials often don’t know who should be considered a third party, which leads to delays. Not only that, work processes and ICT systems are poorly equipped to process Woo requests. The Leiden researchers call for standardisation of procedures, clear criteria and better training for officials. More efficient digital tools, in ‘transparent varnishing’ – where information is visible depending on the reader – could also contribute to faster and more effective processing.
More information?
Read the full article in iBestuur (in Dutch)