Kamu Yönetiminde Açıklık İçin Bilgi Edinme Hakkı

Gelişmişdemokrasilerde yıllardır uygulanan bir kavram olan yönetimde açıklık; Türk kamu yönetiminde yeni bir kavram olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, gizliliğin, kapalılığın hâkim olduğu geleneksel yönetim anlayışından; şeffaflığın, hesap verebilirliğin, katılımcılığın olduğu yeni yönetim anlayışına geçme sürecinde olan Türk kamu yönetiminde, yönetimde açıklık ilkesine ne kadar önem verildiği değerlendirilecektir. Kamu yönetimi geleneksel bir yapıya sahip olan gizlilik ve devlet sırrıanlayışının yoğun yaşandığıbir ülke olan Türkiye’de, son yıllarda yönetimde açıklık uygulamalarıiçin atılmışen önemli adım olan Bilgi Edinme HakkıKanunu incelenecek ve bu kanunun gerçekten geleneksel yapıya karşıyapılan bir meydan okuma mıyoksa kağıt üstünde kalan bir düzenleme mi olduğu değerlendirilerek kanunun yeterli olup olmadığıve uygulanabilirliği üzerinde durulacaktır.

The concept of openness which is being applied in the advanced democracies for years; it is newly started to be implemented in Turkish public administration. In this study, in the process of passing from traditional administration approach that is dominated by privacy and confidentiality to the new administration approach that is determined by transparency, accountability, participation and how much importance was given to the principle of openness in Turkish public administration will be evaluated. Throughout study, the traditional public administration structure which has privacy and state secrets understanding in a country; Turkey, in which the most important step for openness in recent years the Right of Information Acquirement in the administration will be investigated, and this law will be evaluated whether it is a challange against the traditional structure or a regulation that was remained on the paper will be focused on. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether the law on Right of Information Acquirement is being implemented in Turkish public administration or it is just an amendment that was remained on paper. The Right of Information Acquirement Law lays down the guidelines and procedures for individuals to exercise their right of information acquirement in accordance with the principles of equality, neutrality and openness which are the fundamentals of democratic and transparent administration. The law is applicable to the activities of public institutions and organisations, and professional organisations which have the capacity of a public institution and these institutions and organisations are obliged to take the necessary administrative and technical measures to make available to the applicants all kinds of information or documents, save for those exceptions included in the Law, and to complete applications to acquire information in an effective, swift and accurate manner. As it is mentioned in the study, the application to acquire information shall be made to the institution or organisation where the requested information or document is kept, with a petition comprising the name of the applicant, signature, domicile or business address; and if the applicant is a legal person, comprising the title of the legal person, address, and the signature of the authorised person and the certificate of authority. This application can be made in electronic format or by other means of communication on the condition that other information to identify the person’s identity and signature or from whom the letter originates can be legally identified. Thus, in the petition, the information or documents requested must be clearly indicated. If, in the information and documents requested, there is classifed information or information, disclosure of which is prohibited, together with information which can be disclosed, and if these can be extracted, the information or document in question shall be provided to the applicant after extraction of classified or disclosure-prohibited information. This is very important because this law prevented the way of getting information from all state actions. In accordance with the Right of Information Acquirement, Institutions and organisations shall provide the applicant a certified copy of the document requested. In cases where providing a copy of the information or document is not possible due to the nature of the information or document, or in cases where making a copy thereof will give harm to the original, the institutions and organisations make sure that the applicant; Reviews the original of the document in question and takes notes, in the event of written or printed documents, Listens the the information or documents in the form of audio recording, Watches the information or documents in the form of visual recording. If it is possible to acquire the information or documents in ways other than the above, this opportunity is provided on the condition that the document is not damaged. The institution and organisation to which the application is made may collect a fee equal to the cost of access, from the applicant for the information or documents to which access is given, to be recorded as income in its budget. Moreover, the institutions and organisations, upon application, provide access to the requested information or document in fifteen working days. However, in the event that the requested information or document is provided from * Yrd. Doç. Dr., Pamukkale Üniversitesi another unit within the institution or organisation to which the application is made; the opinion of another institution and organisation needs to be taken regarding the application; or the content of the application relates to more than one institution and organisation, then access to the information or document is provided within thirty working days. In this case, the extension of the time and the reason therefor are notified to the applicant in writing and before the expiration of the period of fifteen working days. Upon notification of the cost of access to information or documents mentioned in Article 10 by the administration to the applicant, the period of fifteeen working days is terminated. If the applicant does not pay the fee in fifteen working days, he is deemed to have waived his demand. Although this law is a very important step towards openness, this study shows us that, the law has not got any constitutional protection. This means that it can be easily be annuled by the next government. Thus, the application procedure is very long and weary, this makes people abondon from their petition. The law seems to be designed not to force people make application and think that it is a useless procedure. Moreover, state personnel and institutions are very reluctant to give information about their actions. In conclusion, this law is enacted with the enforcement of the European Union process, and it seems us that Right of Information Acquirement Law is Turkishized during the process. This means that the bureacracy for this Law is preventing public to get information from the state institutions and if the information is given at the end, it is not a satisfactory answer