Legislation:Concordian Republic/Public Communication Act 2022/Original text
From the very beginning of the Concordian Republic, a major focus has been placed on the effective communication of information to the Concordian Republic. This led to the formation of organisations such as the unofficial Bureau of Public Affairs, and the Concordian Media and Broadcasting Collective. This act aims to officiate and diversify these services.
Text
Definitions
Public communication is the action of presenting information to the public. Internal affairs or internal information is information designed to be kept to the government only. FOI is an abbreviation of Freedom of Information, a special request for information. CMBC stands for the official media organisation of the Concordian Republic, the Concordian Media and Broadcasting Collective.
Public Information
There shall be two official statuses for information, public and private. Private information is kept within the government only. This information is such that it is considered public access could compromise any sort of system or service. The Concordian Federal Guard will have the power to prosecute those who leak private information, and to warn those who obtain it. Public information is all else. Not all public information is required to be released to the public, but all can be obtained through a Freedom of Information request.
Bureau of Public Affairs
This act will officially instate the Bureau of Public Affairs. The bureau will handle all public information and will be given full control of the Concordian National Archives. They must grant Freedom of Information requests for any public documents, and may consult with the Cabinet over FOIs for private documents. The bureau will also be in charge of making all formal announcements on behalf of the government, and will issue funding to the CMBC.
Freedom of Information
A Freedom of Information request may be lodged by any member of the public who are not in the process of being prosecuted, or imprisoned. In the case of a request for a public document, whether or not it is already available, the request must be granted by the Bureau of Public Affairs. If the request is for private information, the respective member of the Bureau must consult with the Cabinet over its release.