President Vetoes Free Access to Information Act

Bratislava, November 26 (TASR) - President Peter Pellegrini takes objection to a new institute introduced in an amendment to the Free Access to Information Act that enables charging information-seeking applicants over "extensive search for information" and chose to veto the bill on Tuesday, TASR learnt from the President's Office press department on the same day. According to the President, such an ill-defined and equivocal institute might trigger disputes in practice over when and how it is applied. The problem, in his opinion, is that it creates room for arbitrary assessments of applications and double standards in the process of exercising the right to information. "The goal should be to have more efficient and comprehensible legislation, seeing as the law on free access to information is employed by the people on a daily basis," stated the head of state. The bill introduces legal uncertainty in the way bodies of public power operate - without defining necessary limits on when and how to use the institute in question. "That could lead to a plethora of new legal disputes," thinks Pellegrini, adding that it would also excessively burden the authorities with quantifying fees and processing complaints from citizens. Such a measure would only pose an additional administrative burden to the authorities themselves, rather than any help. mf/mcs