MPs Override President's Veto, Re-approve Information Act Amendment

Bratislava, December 10 (TASR) - MPs broke the veto of President Peter Pellegrini and approved the amendment to the Information Act in its original wording, not accepting his comments, TASR learnt on Tuesday. The head of state proposed to delete several provisions. MPs originally approved the bill on November 7. It will be possible to charge the provision of information through the Information Act. Behind the amendment to the law on free access to information are MPs for the coalition Slovak National Party (SNS). The aim of the bill is to introduce a mechanism that would allow obliged individuals to manage the process of providing information more efficiently and to be reimbursed for the costs associated with extensive searches for and disclosure of information, explained SNS. "If the obliged individual will require payment for providing information, they will notify the applicant in writing of that fact, announcing the cost, before the information is provided. The notification will make clear on what basis and in what manner the level of the fee was calculated," reads the draft bill. SNS pointed to long-standing issues in which obliged individuals are overwhelmed by "frequent or excessive requests for disclosure of information". According to the party, some requests require extremely extensive searches for information, which places a significant strain on administrative capacity and resources. am