The Decree Law 81/2005

Decree_Law_81_2005

The Environmental Information System, according to the terms of the Decree-Law nº 81/2005 of 5 December, that establishes its creation and legal regimen, constitutes a technical, strategic, institutional and political instrument, oriented for organization, circulation and diffusion of information of environmental nature. Having elected free access to information, preservation and conservation of the Environment and Participation as its basic principles, the Environmental Information System is aimed at the organization, circulation and diffusion of information relative to the environment with the intention of promoting preservation of the environment, information and the effective and adequate participation of citizens and public and/or private institutions and the exchange and transaction of information between producers and users of information.

The Legal regimen of the Environmental Information System assures access of environment related information to all collective and individual people, without the need to invoke personal and direct interests, with exception of access to documents that contain personal data. The right to access is limited whenever the following is at stake:

1. Materials under secrecy of justice;
2. Information that is susceptible to endanger or to cause damage to the internal and external security of the State;
3. Documents that may harm commercial and industrial secrets or any other secrets related to the internal affairs of enterprises;
4. Confidentiality of personal data.

The Protocol of Understanding

Protocolo.pdf

Within the terms of the Decree-Law nº 81/2005 of 5 December that foresees the creation and the legal regimen of the Environmental Information System, the EIS is constituted by the set of partners, public and private law collective people, producers and users of environment related information, that join freely and participate in the process of organization, implementation and monitoring of activities.

The Protocol of Understanding, a motor instrument for implementation of the Environmental Information System, constitutes an agreement established among the partners that defines the functioning, organization, composition of EIS, the principles and the modalities of circulation of information. The Protocol of Understanding is an effective tool to be used by the partners and is susceptible of being cancelled, reformulated and modified.

The first protocol of understanding of the Environmental Information System is the object of a participatory formulation process among the potential EIS partners, the General Directorate of Environment (DGA), the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), and the French Cooperation. The protocol which has been celebrated on 21 June 2005, defines the objectives, the management principles, the organization, the access and circulation of environmental information, the rights and duties to be singularly and collectively followed by the partners, the organs and functioning modalities and the funding and support mechanism.