News

Belgrade, May 29, 2025

Due to great interest and the previous training held in April, where the number of registered participants exceeded the capacity of the hall, a training was held again in the Great Hall of the Misdemeanor Court in Belgrade on Thursday, May 29, 2025, custom-made for Information Officers on the topic - Free Access to Information of Public Importance, Legislation and Practice.

The training was held by the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection, Milan Marinović, and the Acting Assistant to the Secretary General - Sector for Complaints and Enforcement in the Field of Access to Information of Public Importance, Slavoljupka Pavlović. This training, which aims to familiarize Information Officers with the current legal solutions in the Republic of Serbia and to train them for the proper implementation of the Law, was carried out as part of the Commissioner's further efforts to bring the area of ​​access to information of public importance closer to the widest possible circle of persons from state authorities and the judiciary in the city of Belgrade. Special attention was paid to the increasingly evident abuse of the right to access information of public importance and measures to overcome this problem.

The training was again attended by around 80 Information Officers from various public authorities.

In the coming period, due to great interest, the Commissioner's Office plans to hold more training courses tailored for Information Officers within the Commissioner's capacities and capabilities.

In cooperation with the Serbian Association of Employers, training sessions for the Serbian commercial sector continued. During May, two training sessions were conducted, on May 22 in Valjevo, for the employees of the Krušik factory for dedicated manufacturing, and on May 27 for employees of the Serbian Association of Employers in Belgrade. Lecturers from the Sector for; Education and Certification, Marko Milošević, Aleksandra Lakićević, and Marin Cetinić, introduced the participants to the Personal Data Protection Law, showcased examples from the Commissioner's practice, and explained how to harmonize this target group's data processing with the said Law. The most frequently asked questions involved the retention periods of certain data, the rights of individuals, the creation of rulebooks, and the proper use of video surveillance. 130 participants attended these two trainings.

In the future, cooperation between the Serbian Association of Employers and the Commissioner's Office expects more custom-made training sessions to be organized for the dedicated industry. 

On Friday, May 16, the Commissioner held two training sessions on implementing regulations within his jurisdiction. Accredited lecturer from the Commissioner's Office, Natasa Mirjanić, held a webinar for interested parties who had recently contacted the Commissioner with a request to attend training sessions. The emphasis of the training was on acting upon requests for access to information of public importance. Through practical examples, the participants were introduced to the most common errors in acting and informed on the importance of respecting all procedural steps, with an emphasis on the provisions of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, and as well the Law on General Administrative Procedure, which regulates some parts of the procedure. Also, lecturers Marin Cetinić and Nemanja Damjanović held training on personal data protection for the data protection officers and representatives of the legal department of Beo Lab, as part of training sessions aimed at the private healthcare sector. The training sessions were attended by 23 employees from the healthcare sector and representatives of other public authorities.

In the upcoming period, the Commissioner's educational activities will be steered towards private healthcare institutions, the private sector, and the dedicated industry.

On 16.5.2025, a seminar on improving access to environmental information was held in Banja Koviljača, organized by the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection and the OSCE Mission to Serbia.

The seminar brought together representatives of public authorities, the civil sector, and journalists to discuss the legal framework and obligations of public authorities regarding the provision of environmental information, the role of the Commissioner in the complaint procedure, and practices and challenges in access to environmental information.

Most of the day was dedicated to the practical work of seminar participants preparing specific requests for access to environmental information, and learning how to respond to such requests using practical examples.

The workshop was facilitated by Slavoljupka Pavlović, Acting Assistant Secretary General, Sector for Complaints and Enforcement in the Field of Access to Information, and Dina Đorđević, journalist and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Center for Investigative Journalism of Serbia (CINS).