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92:, notwithstanding their citizenship, temporary or permanent residence in the country. Moreover, the right to access information applies to the executive, legislative and judicial bodies, State-owned enterprises, as well as other public authorities and private bodies that perform a public function or that receive significant public funding are also obliged to disclose information of public relevance (Art. 3).
23:
131:
Since the adoption of the Law on Access to
Information in 2004, a significant increase in the number of requests has been registered by the entitled Commissioner, pointing to the positive fact that the right is increasing being used by citizens and media professionals in Serbia. At the same time, the
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demanding information concerning the use of electronic surveillance measures by that agency in 2005. The Agency denied access to the requested information twice, first on grounds of secrecy and then, after a binding decision by the
Commissioner for Information stating that the information should be
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Aside from examining individual complaints related to violations of the right to free access to information, the
Commissioner also addresses citizens’ requests asking how to exercise their right to information, provides to state authorities opinions about the implementation of the law, trainings for
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Requests should be lodged in written form, with no need for the applicant to specify the reason for the request. The public authority shall reply without delay and within 15 days at the latest. If the requested information entails consequences for the protection of a person's life or freedom, public
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In its annual report for 2015, the
Commissioner for Information notes some limitation to the effective implementation of the law. These have to do, according to the Commissioner, particularly with insufficient accountability for violations of the Law and inefficient mechanisms of enforcement of the
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entails that everyone in Serbia has the right to access to information of public importance and to be informed whether public authorities hold specific information, whether such information is already accessible, and to obtain a copy of the requested information. The
Commissioner for Information of
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The
Commissioner is entitled by Law to issue decisions on disputed cases, and his/her decisions should be enforced by the Government of the Republic of Serbia if necessary (Art 28). The Commissioner is appointed by the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia on proposal of the Committee of the
44:
held by public bodies also known as "right to know". Access to public information is considered of fundamental importance for the effective functioning of democratic systems, as it enhances governments' and public officials' accountability, boosting people participation and allowing their informed
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The right to access to information of public relevance is translated into national law by the Law on Free Access to
Information of Public Importance adopted in 2003 and amended in 2007 and 2009. The latest amendments to the Law, applying as of 17 February 2022, broadened the definition of public
139:
Considering the implementation of the Law on Access to
Information in Serbia and its impact on the exercise of journalism, Freedom House has noted in 2016 that “Despite the existence of the 2004 Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, authorities frequently obstruct journalists’
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set forth in the
Constitution is due to the restrictions applied to the admissibility of complaints against first instance decisions: a complaint is not admissible if “lodged against decisions of the National Assembly, the President of the Republic, the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the
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Limitations to the right to access to information are defined in
Article 9 of the Law, establishing that legitimate limitation may derive if the requested information exposes to risk the life, health, safety or another vital interest of a person; if it obstacles the work of the judiciary; if it
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of the Convention. In June 2013, the verdict of the ECtHR defined “unpersuasive” the argument used by the Agency according to which it did not hold the information requested and found that the restrictions imposed by the Serbian intelligence agency were not justified by domestic law and hence
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Serbia is considered among the countries with the best regulatory framework regarding access to information of public relevance: the Global Right to Information Rating, compiled by NGOs AccessInfo and Centre for Law and Democracy, ranks the country in the second position in its global ranking
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participation into public life. The fundamental premise of the right of access to public information is that the information held by governmental institutions is in principle public and may be concealed only on the basis of legitimate reasons which should be detailed in the law.
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health and the environment, the time span at the disposal of authorities is reduced to 48 hours. In cases in which the document contains information that the public has no legitimate interest to know, the applicant has the right to access to other parts of the documents.
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National Assembly responsible for information. The position of the Commissioner for Information was held by Rodoljub Šabić, who was appointed for an initial 7-years term and then re-elected in 2011. The incumbent Commissioner Milan Marinović was appointed in July 2019.
107:. The Commissioner is an independent, second-level appeal instance: if a public authority does not respond to the request within the deadline, the applicant may lodge a complaint with the Commissioner, except in cases prescribed by this Law (Art.16).
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threatens national defense, national and public safety, international relations or the government's ability to manage the national economic processes. Finally, classified information are excluded from the right.
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73:, which establishes the right of everybody to be informed about issues of public importance and the deriving obligation of state bodies and public organizations to guarantee the access to such information.
52:, access to public information is guaranteed in the Constitution and protected by the Law on free Access to Information of Public Importance adopted in 2003 and amended in 2007, 2009, 2010, and 2021. The
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bodies bound by its provisions, strengthened the position of the Commissioner in terms of enforcement of his decisions, and enabled him to lodge misdemeanor complaints and issue misdemeanor orders.
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increasing number of complaints filed to the Commissioner demonstrates the reluctancy by authorities to timely and fully comply with the obligation established by the Law on access to information.
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Concern over implementation, alignment with European standards, endowment of resources to the Commissioner for Information and enforcement of his decisions is highlighted also by the
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443:"Despite the existence of the 2004 Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, authorities frequently obstruct journalists' efforts to obtain public information"
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Public Importance and Personal Data Protection is the authority entitled by law to monitor the respect of obligations entailed by this Law.
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Supreme Court of Serbia, the Constitutional Court, the National Bank of Serbia, and the Republic Public Prosecutor” (Art. 22).
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The scope of the law is valued positively especially inasmuch as it extends the right to access to information
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485:"Article 10 of the Convention includes the right of access to data held by an intelligence agency"
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Rodoljub Šabić, first Commissioner for Information and protection of personal data (2004-2018)
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related to the right to access to information in Serbia. In 2006, the Belgrade-based NGO
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law implementation and takes part in activities related to the EU accession process.
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constituted a violation of article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
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assessing the quality of legislative frameworks regulating FOI across the world.
529:"Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection"
254:"Contents of the right regarding access to information of public importance"
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made public, by declaring that it did not hold the requested information.
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The right of access to public information is defined in Article 51 of the
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The authority in charge of monitoring the respect of the Law is the
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Milan Marinovic, the incumbent Commissioner, appointed in July 2019.
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YIHR appealed to the European Court of Human Rights under
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386:. Beta / Osservatorio Balcani Caucaso Transeuropa
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405:Commissioner for Information in Serbia (2016).
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151:Youth Initiative for Human Rights v. Serbia
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215:Transparency of media ownership in Serbia
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380:"Serbia: the hard fight for information"
127:Access to public information in practice
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579:Access to public information in Europe
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140:efforts to obtain public information”.
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163:(YIHR) filed a request to the Serbian
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118:It has been noted that a significant
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275:"Global Right to Information Rating"
378:Maja, Poznatov (13 February 2017).
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514:"YIHR vs. Serbia, ECHR Judgement"
161:Youth Initiative for Human Rights
456:"EU Serbia Progress Report 2016"
432:"Freedom of the press in Serbia"
239:Freedom of Information, UNESCO.
483:Voorhoof, Dirk (8 July 2013).
157:European Court of Human Rights
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165:Security Intelligence Agency
31:Access to public information
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136:Commissioner’s decisions.
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367:Retrieved 2017-02-17.
241:Retrieved 2016-10-16.
301:"Article 51, Section II"
220:Media freedom in Serbia
155:A landmark case by the
120:limitation of the right
942:Freedom of information
628:Bosnia and Herzegovina
430:Freedom House (2016).
305:Constitution of Serbia
277:. 2016. Archived from
200:Freedom of information
147:in its annual report.
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71:Constitution of Serbia
40:refer to the right of
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90:to all natural person
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844:States with limited
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384:balcanicaucaso.org
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54:scope of the right
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349:17 February
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936:Categories
790:San Marino
750:Montenegro
730:Luxembourg
710:Kazakhstan
613:Azerbaijan
226:References
177:Article 10
16:See also:
901:Gibraltar
725:Lithuania
173:Article 6
921:Svalbard
906:Guernsey
853:Abkhazia
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184:See also
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643:Cyprus
461:. 2016
307:. 2006
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459:(PDF)
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541:2016
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
