News

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection in cooperation with the OSCE Mission to Serbia published a Quick Guide to Free Access to Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection. The guide contains all basic terms and concise explanations for a better understanding of laws related to two basic human rights - the right to free access to information of public importance and the right to personal data protection.

The OSCE Mission to Serbia organized a study visit to Sweden on the topic of personal data protection from October 17 to 20. Ten representatives of the Office of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection and five representatives of the Ministry of Interior of the Republic of Serbia embarked on the visit. During the visit, the participants had the opportunity to learn more about the legal framework for protecting personal data protection in Sweden and implementing regulations in this field. Meetings were organized with representatives of the Swedish Authority for Privacy Protection (IMY), the Swedish Police, the Swedish Parliament, the Administrative Court in Stockholm, and representatives of the Embassy of the Republic of Serbia in Sweden.

Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection Milan Marinović emphasized the exceptional importance of this study trip for the future work of the Commissioner and his office and for designing plans for the implementation of personal data protection in the Republic of Serbia in the future:

"To get familiarized with the work of the Body engaged in personal data protection in Sweden, as well as with the actions of the Swedish police during the personal data processing, especially as a competent authority that processes personal data for special purposes, will greatly contribute to the easier resolution of problems in the Commissioner's practice.

This study visit not only fully justified but even exceeded our expectations, and also confirmed the exceptional importance of this type of cooperation in respecting human rights that the Commissioner protects.

The Commissioner expresses his exceptional gratitude to the OSCE Mission for recognizing the importance and need of the Commissioner to familiarize himself with the work of authorities engaged in personal data protection in Sweden, as a member of the European Union, and for organizing this study trip, hoping for more such study trips in the future."

The visit was organized within the framework of the OSCE Mission project called Consolidation of the Process of Democratization in the Security Sector in Serbia, and with the financial support of the Government of Sweden.

Novi Pazar, October 20, 2023

The "Importance of Access to Environmental Information for the Improvement and Protection of the Environment" workshop was held today in Novi Pazar, organized by the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection with the support of the OSCE Mission to Serbia. The workshop was also an opportunity to present the current situation in the field of environmental information availability and highlight the new powers of the Commissioner in situations where environmental information is refused to the public and what are the obstacles in the realization of the right to access environmental information, that is, how to overcome them and improve the situation in that field.

The workshop brought together representatives of the Academic Community, Public Authorities dealing with issues of environmental protection at the state and local level, all interested members of the public, representatives of the Commissioner's Office, Civil Society Organizations, and journalists who report on the environment and climate change.

On this occasion, the publication "Exercising the Right to Access Environmental Information" (version in Serbian language only) was presented by Slavoljupka Pavlović, Acting Assistant Secretary-General in the Sector for Complaints and Enforcement in the Field of Access to Information related to the first pillar of the Aarhus Convention, which is included in the publication.

It was pointed out that one of the main problems is the high percentage of administrative silence of the authorities regarding requests for access to environmental information. Also, there is a high percentage of non-implemented decisions of the Commissioner's orders to disclose environmental information. Thanks to the amendments to the Law and the unblocking of the mechanisms for the enforcement of the Commissioner's decisions, that problem has been eliminated.

At the end of the workshop, the actors concluded that without access to environmental information, there is no public participation in decision-making as one of the necessities for a good definition of public policies, and the adoption of strategies and appropriate measures for environmental protection.

The event is realized within the Project "Application of the Aarhus Convention and Access to Information of Public Importance".