Legal regulation of access to information on the activities of state agencies and local self-government

The article provides a systematic analysis of the Russian legislation regulating access to information about the activities of state agencies and agencies of local self-government. On the basis of the analysis the author reveals the content of legal regulation in this area. The author examines main problems of legal regulation and concludes on the need to further improvement of the legal and regulatory framework in this area. Moreover, this article gives the following proposals: at the legislative level it is necessary to define the criteria and procedure for categorizing information classified as «official secrets» clearly; there is a need to improve ways to access information about the activities of state agencies and agencies of local self-government in an electronic form.