Court Suspends Effect of Part of Info Act on Fees for Providing Information

Kosice, March 12 (TASR) - The Constitutional Court has suspended the effect of the part of the law on free access to information that allows fees to be charged for information after an amendment to the Information Act, which came into force on March 1, was challenged before the Constitutional Court by a group of opposition MPs as well as ombudsman Robert Dobrovodsky. The Constitutional Court on Wednesday accepted their motions to assess whether the amendment is constitutional in further proceedings. In its submission to the Constitutional Court, the opposition Progressive Slovakia (PS) party stated that the regulation could seriously interfere with people's fundamental rights and freedoms, pointing out that the amendment introduced a new institution into the Information Act, the so-called extraordinary broad search, along with fees for this service, which, however, it didn't specify. "With this amendment, coalition MPs introduced into the Information Act a tool allowing completely arbitrary action on the part of obligated persons, including, for example, ministries, central public administration bodies and local authorities. Anyone requesting information under the Information Act is therefore exposed to legal uncertainty and unpredictable actions by state bodies," said PS MP Lucia Plavakova. The Constitutional Court didn't suspend the entire amendment, although this was requested by the group of MPs. The amendment was submitted by Slovak National Party (SNS) MPs. The sponsors defended the option of demanding fees on the grounds of the costs associated with extremely extensive searches for information, pointing to long-standing issues when obligated entities are overwhelmed by frequent or excessive requests for disclosures of information. The legislation was initially vetoed by President Peter Pellegrini, but Parliament overrode his veto and adopted the amendment again in December. am/df