Commissioner for Information of Public Importance, Rodoljub Šabić, talked today to Minister of Culture Nebojša Bradić about problems in the implementation of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, particularly those which are caused by the Ministry of Culture and Serbian Government's failure to meet their legal obligations.

On this occasion, Commissioner Rodoljub Šabić said:

“Article 45 of the Law envisages that the monitoring of the implementation of the Law should be performed by the ministry in charge of informing, i.e. the Ministry of Culture. This obligation is extremely complex and it includes monitoring of the situation in the large number of public authorities, as well as taking actions for initiating infringement procedures against persons who broke the Law. As I have been pointing out for years, the Ministry did not have, and still does not have, even the elementary conditions for performing this function. The absurd inability is best illustrated by the fact that at this moment the Ministry has only one man for monitoring more than 11 thousand subjects.

For reasons stated above, infringement liability has existed only symbolically for years. As the Serbian Government does not at all fulfil its obligation referred to in Article 28 paragraph 2 of the Law - to provide enforcement of the Commissioner's decision in case it is necessary - this considerably undermines anti-corruption and democratic effects of the implementation of the Law and is objectively a serious encouragement for those who have interest in breaking the law, those who have something to hide from the public.

I have emphasized the need for providing real monitoring and imposing stricter liability for breaking the law in all reports to the National Assembly as well. Although reports were adopted, competent persons did nothing about it. A relevant Bill of Amendments to the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance has been prepared recently as a civil initiative, organized by the Coalition for Freedom of Access to Information. It was submitted to the National Assembly, with several thousand signatures of support form the citizens and in accordance with the Constitution. Unfortunately, for reasons which are really hard to understand, the fate of that Bill is unknown, it virtually „disappeared”, which I find unacceptable.

In an open and constructive conversation, I suggested to Mr. Bradić that Ministry should support that Bill and accept it as its own, in its entirety or with certain modifications, and the Minister expressed readiness to accept the suggestion. It is, in my opinion, not only the expression of a fair treatment of civil initiative based on the Constitution, but also the first major step towards solution to the problems which evidently make the implementation of the Law very difficult, but whose solving has been postponed for years.”