Rodoljub Sabic, Commissioner for Information of Public Importance, returned from his official visit to Slovenia. During his two-day visit, the Commissioner had separate talks with Mrs. Nataša Pirc Musar, Slovenian Commissioner for Access to Public Information, Mr. Roman Repo, State Secretary for Public Administration, Mr. Vojko Kos, Director of the Information Protection and Classification Directorate, and Mr. Jernej Rovšek, Deputy Ombudsman for human rights, as well as with their associates.
The Commissioner also visited the legal partnership “Avbreht, Zajc i partneri”, specialized in protecting freedoms and rights.
The Commissioner evaluated his visit to Slovenia as very useful and, in that context, said:
“The atmosphere was more than friendly and I had the opportunity to learn about the results and plans achieved in Slovenia in the field of free access to information. I am highly satisfied because we have agreed to establish ongoing communication and exchange of experiences. Given that Slovenian results in the transition process are generally seen as excellent, I believe many of their experiences can be relevant for Serbia as well.
The experience of Slovenia goes to confirm the fact that good results in the implementation of laws largely depend on two issues. Firstly, on overcoming the obsolete mentality of the society at large and of public authorities in particular: and secondly, on the actual willingness of enforcement authorities to support the implementation of the Law.
Serbia has made certain, though insufficient, efforts in connection with the first of the above issues; however, little or nothing has been done to tackle the second issue. Therefore it remains a priority task for all those involved, in particular for the Government of Serbia, to organize and implement a high-quality extensive campaign that would provide the civil servants with the required skills and knowledge. The same applies to the activation of monitoring mechanisms, introduction of infringement liability and enforcement of the Commissioner's decisions.
If these elementary assumptions are not ensured, all achievements made so far in the implementation of the Law will be cancelled.”
