Source: Politika
After four years of application, change of the Law on Free Access to Information is necessary. - How shall secret information be regulated „The Commissioner doesn't have legal or factual possibilities to secure the execution of his decision himself. The Law stipulates that his order is mandatory, but what in case when someone says: 'I really don't care what's written in the law?' Unfortunately, we still aren't a country that has secured an enviable level of legal discipline and that is our reality", said Rodoljub Sabic, the Commissioner for Public Information and Protection of Personal Data, on yesterday's forum on the laws regulating treatment of public, classified and information pertaining to person.
Although the law stipulates that in cases when the Commissioner's order is not fulfilled, the execution shall be done by the Government, the Commissioner says that it didn't happen in practice.
Although the number of unresolved orders isn't big - it fluctuates between one hundred and two hundreds a year, which is not much when compared to 6,000 registered files - such passivity of authorities, according to the Commissioner's words can be also interpreted as an invitation to violate the law.
During the four years of law implementation, other shortcomings were also observed that should be changed by the coming changes. Those who do not observe the law are threatened by transgression punishment, or more precisely, penalty from 5,000 to 50,000 dinars, but the number of punished is neglectable.
Sabic states that until now several thousands of law transgressions have been made, although the things reaching his service represent just a "top of an iceberg". Just a hundred of cases have been processed, and couple of tens of violators have been punished. Namely, supervision over law implementation has been vested with the Ministry of Culture, which does not have organizational, staff, logistics and other preconditions for exercising control, or to even start transgression procedure. One of problems that have been observed a long time ago, is the insider's status, that is, of people who in their own environment, intending to protect the public interest, openly speak about criminal and corruption episodes and so come into conflict with some internal secret rules in their environment. Such people practically have no protection in our legal system and „it is almost a rule that whoever opts for such move shall bear unpleasant consequences". So a man was left jobless, who pointed out to embezzlement in collection of the pay-toll in Belgrade - Nis highway. After three years he has been returned to his job - just after Commissioner's engagement and engagement of the media that wrote about it. The Personal Data Protection Act has been adopted just recently, and therefore at the meeting organized by the Lawyers' Committee for Human Rights one couldn't speak about experiences related to it. Big expectations are also related to the future Secret Information Act, because this matter is currently regulated in more than 400 regulations, which is simultaneously enabling various abuses. One model of that law has been compiled by the coalition of several non-governmental organizations, but in the meantime with the Ministry of Justice, Working Group has been formed with the same task.
