Act on the Openness of Government Activities (No. 621 of 1999). Country/Territory Finland Document type Legislation Date 1999 (2015) Source FAO, FAOLEX Subject General Keyword Access-to-information Public participation Data collection/reporting Legal proceedings/administrative proceedings Authorization/permit Classification/declassification Governance Geographical area Arctic, Europe, Europe and Central Asia, European Union Countries, North-East Atlantic, Northern Europe Entry into force notes This Act entered into force on 1 December 1999. Abstract The present Act contains provisions on the right of access to official documents in the public domain, officials’ duty of non-disclosure, document secrecy and other access restrictions that are necessary for the protection of public and private interests. It also contains provisions as on the duties of the authorities to achieve the objectives of the Act, which are to promote openness and good practice on information management in government and to provide private individuals and corporations with an opportunity to monitor the exercise of public authority and the use of public resources, to freely form an opinion, to influence the exercise of public authority, and to protect their rights and interests. The Act contains 38 Sections divided into the following Chapters: 1. General provisions; 2. When documents enter the public domain; 3. Right of access to a document; 4. Granting access to a document; 5. Duty of the authorities to promote access and good practice on information management; 6. Secrecy obligations; 7. Derogations from secrecy and declassification; 8. Miscellaneous provisions. Full text English Website www.finlex.fi