Access to Public Information in Slovenia

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Access to Public Information in Slovenia

• Nataša Pirc Musar,
• Information Commissioner

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Access to Public Information in Slovenia

• Constitutional framework
• Article 38 protection of personal data is
  guaranteed
• Article 39 freedom of speech and right of access
  to public information are guaranteed.
• Constitutional right of PDP is embodied in the
  Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).
• Constitutional right of access to public
  information is embodied in the Access to Public
  Information Act (APIA).

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Access to Public Information in Slovenia

• APIA defines 12 exceptions from publicly
  available information personal data (PD)
  protection is the only exception that is also
  constitutional right
• the most common exception is the protection of PD
  as governed by the PDPA
• in the previous years 29,4 of the Commissioners
  decisions issued under APIA dealt with the
  exception of the PD protection.

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Access to Public Information in Slovenia

• Inspection rights
• Possibility to confiscate documents
• Possibility to enter IT systems (but
  communication privacy protected documents)
• Possibility to call police if public sector body
  does not want to leave us into its premises
• Never used
• The right to call eny witness to testify

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Access to Public Information in Slovenia

• Novelties of the amended FOIA
• Public interest test (25 countries have it)
• Total transparency of public money spending
• The access to the requested information is
  sustained
• if the considered is information related to the
  use of public funds or information related to the
  execution of public functions or employment
  relationship

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Access to Public Information in Slovenia

• Novelties of the amended FOIA
• Withdrawall of the classification from documents
  and environmental information
• if the considered is information related to
  environmental emissions, waste, dangerous
  substances in factory or information contained in
  safety report and also other information if the
  Environment Protection Act so stipulates.
• If the applicant holds, that information is
  denoted classified in violation of the Act
  governing classified data, he can request the
  withdrawal of the classification according to the
  procedure from the Article 21 of this Act.

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Access to Public Information in Slovenia

• Withdrawall of the classification (unique in
  the world)
• The same procedure as for using a public interest
  test
• The appeal body is the Information Commissioner

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Access to Public Information in Slovenia

• FIVE BASIC PRINCIPLES TO SUCCEED
• Penalties, misdemeanour body
• Change mentality of bureaucrats
• Have an Information Commissioner (or Ombudsman)
• Do not have many absolute exceptions
• Public should have the guts to ask
• Need to Know Right to Know

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www.ic-rs.si
Thank you for your attention!