Important statement of the Misdemeanor Court

The Misdemeanor Appellate Court stated that the association is authorized to initiate misdemeanor proceedings for denying the right of access to information.

This view is significant because, in situations where the authorities ignore the requests of the claimants, in addition to lodging a complaint to the Commissioner, this additional tool can be used to pressure the authority to fulfill its obligation.

Namely, the mere failure of the authorities to act on the request for access to information within a deadline (15 days or 48 hours for individual information) is a violation under the Law on Free Access to Information.

According to the Law on Misdemeanors, the procedure can be initiated by the Prosecutor, the body competent for monitoring the implementation of the law (administrative inspection or the damaged party).

The problem was the interpretation of the term "damaged", because it refers to a person whose personal or property rights have been violated by the failure to act, or in recognition of the property damaged by associations, given such a definition.

Transparency Serbia uses this opportunity to point out that the misdemeanor responsibility of the authorities, and responsible persons in the authorities for failure to act upon the request, cannot be a substitute for other forms of liability. This type of behavior, when it seems intentional or when it is persistently repeated, should result in the initiation of procedures for the dismissal of the head of state authority.