The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, has pointed out the very worrying results of the analysis of compliance with the statutory liability to draft and publish information booklets by the public prosecutor's offices in the Republic of Serbia in a letter to the Republican Public Prosecutor's Office, and requested the Republican Public Prosecutor to take the necessary measures without delay to raise compliance with this statutory liability to at least minimally acceptable level.
The Commissioner’s analysis of compliance with the liability to draft and publish information booklets included 89 public prosecutors’ offices (58 basic, 25 higher, 4 appellate, the Prosecutor's Office for Organized Crime and the War Crimes Prosecutor's Office).
By 20 June 2017, the Commissioner sent 62 warnings to public prosecutors’ offices, and by the end of the month, warnings will be sent to all offices.
The Commissioner estimates that it is disturbing and completely unsatisfactory, that out of all public prosecutors’ offices (89), only 27 complied with their statutory liability, at least formally; particularly, having in mind that the analysis of these published booklets indicates an extremely low level of compliance with the statutory liability. The published booklets are, as a rule, not updated, and do not contain all compulsory chapters compiled in the prescribed manner.
The Commissioner believes that the fact that as many as 70 prosecutors' offices do not have a website certainly deserves special attention. This is not an obstacle to compliance with the liability to publish an information booklet (it can be published on the website of the prosecutor's office that is directly above in the hierarchy), however, having regard to the time in which we live, and the material, logistic and similar issues, this is incomprehensible and extremely worrying.
The Commissioner has warned that noncompliance with the statutory liability to draft and publish information booklets (which is a misdemeanor punishable under the law) by such a number of entities within the organization of the prosecutor's offices and to such a scope, may result in the absolutely undesirable institution of misdemeanor proceedings against a large number responsible persons, i.e. prosecutors, and quite certainly makes it difficult for the citizens and the public to exercise their statutory rights.
