FOI officer questions #

A new request for access to public information has arrived, how should I proceed? #

The Free Access Portal is a service that helps users submit electronic requests to officials for free access to information holders and easily track and share responses to their requests.

The request for free access to information comes from a registered user - applicant of the portal Free Access, with a previously created profile for access to it.

You as an official should in accordance with the Law on Free Access to Public Information respond to the request in the same way as you would respond to any other request submitted orally or in writing. The only difference is that your answer should be electronic and it will automatically be published on the portal.

Why are responses to requests made public? #

The benefits of this are great, the most important thing is to encourage the public to be more interested and involved in the process of greater transparency of institutions.

Also, the intention is to reduce the number of the same or similar requests for a certain area or to a certain holder if the applicant has access to the answers to previous requests from another natural or legal person.

Given that the responses to requests for free access to information contain public information, we believe that there should be no reason not to make them public.

Are the people making requests real people? #

Yes, the requests come from real users. To track responses, we use computer-generated email addresses for each request. Before sending the request, each user must register on the portal with a unique e-mail which we then verify.

I see the request on the portal, but the email notification has not been received.#

• It is the obligation of the official to respond to the received request through the portal Free Access.
• In case you do not receive notification of a new request on your e-mail, try to check in the spam or junk folders of your e-mail.

How do you calculate the deadline shown on request pages?#

• The holder of the information is obliged to respond immediately upon the request of the applicant, and no later than 20 days from the day of receipt of the request.
• The information holder is obliged to inform the information requester regarding the request for access to information if after the request he / she has already responded positively to the same or similar request of the same person within three months before the day of receipt of the request.
• In case the information holder needs to provide partial access to the information in accordance with the law or due to the volume of the requested information it takes longer than the deadline set by law, the deadline may be extended up to 30 days from the date of receipt of the request.
• The holder of the information on the extension of the deadline is obliged to notify the applicant in electronic form immediately, and no later than seven days from the day of receipt of the request.
• If the information holder does not act within the legally prescribed deadline, the information requester may file a complaint to the Agency for Protection of the Right to Free Access to Public Information.

Could some information not be published?#

Information holders may refuse a request for access to:

• information which by law is classified information with an appropriate degree of classification;
• personal data whose disclosure would violate the protection of personal data;
• information the disclosure of which would constitute a breach of the confidentiality of the tax procedure;
• information obtained or compiled for investigation, criminal or misdemeanor procedure, for conducting administrative and civil procedure, the provision of which would have harmful consequences for the course of the procedure;
• information that endangers industrial or intellectual property rights (patent, model, sample, trademark and service mark, mark of origin of the product).