We invite the Agency for Protection of Personal Data and the Free Access to Information to take a position, as soon as possible, on the disputed Decree on compensation costs relating to access to information, which is not in accordance with domestic and international regulations, and that to the Government of Montenegro submit the initiative for its immediate amendment.
We expect that this Agency as an institution which is responsible for overseeing the implementation of the Law on Free Access to Information, to ensure that the disputed Government Decree complies with that law.
The existing law stipulates that only can be charge for the minimum actual costs of the procedure for access to information, while in practice we have a situation that the State makes from it very profitable business and restricts citizens’ access to information, by calculating extremely high cost of the procedure of access to information, thanks to this illegal Decree.
This Decree deviates from the standards and allowances for the average citizen of Montenegro and it is contrary to international regulations that regulate access to information.
Numerous international regulations, such as recommendation of the Committee of Ministers to member states on access to official documents, point out that the procedure for access to information should not generate any profit, and that these fee should be reasonable and be kept to a minimum and should not exceed the actual costs incurred by the authorities.
Similar allegations give and the Council of Europe on Access to Official Documents and the Regulation of the European Parliament and the Council on public access to information from the European Parliament, Council and the Commission, in which is provided that the fee for a copy of an official document should be reasonable and not exceed the actual cost of reproduction and delivery of documents.
The above leads to the conclusion that in Montenegro there is still plenty of room to work on improving access to information held by state entities and their transparent way of operation in general, and that the harmonization of national with international legislation in this field represents an obligation, particularly in the phase of accession negotiations to the European Union that are in progress in this country.
Adoption of the new Decree on charges related to access to information should be the obligation of the Government of Montenegro, and we invite the Agency to initiate the process of its urgent changes.
Vuk Jankovic
Coordinator of the Legal Program
