President Dmitry Medvedev signed the law amending the Code of Administrative Offences of the Russian Federation. New amendments introduce real responsibility for officials’ refusals to provide information access.

The new law comes into force since July 1, 2010, the same day the law on access to judicial information does. For information access law violations, fines amounting to 3,000 – 5,000 rubles could be imposed.

Legal precedenta already appear: a district prosecutor’s office in Lipetsk has made a warning to the local administration for lack of information at the latter’s official website.

Today, we have a sound legal base for information access. But its real efficiency depends on whether citizens will implement information access laws or will not.