The Coalition for Free Access to Information supports the decision of the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia to re-elect Rodoljub Šabić as the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Information Protection. This step shows respect to the initiative of many civil societies and the expert public. The Coalition believes that it is of the utmost importance to continue with further activities aimed at improving the current system and openness of state institutions, as well as citizens’ rights in the field of free access to information of public importance and personal data protection.In this sense, we believe that the next step in enhancing the state’s openness to its citizens would be to amend laws which regulate this area. There are two strands to this argument. First, amendments should be made to also allow the possibility of making complaints to the Commissioner to even where the so-called ”highest” state institutions are concerned – the National Assembly, the President of the Republic of Serbia, the Serbian Government, the Constitutional Court, the Public Prosecutor and the Supreme Court of Cassation do not currently give citizens access to information of public importance, as this is not foreseen by the law. On the other hand, we expect that this law should be amended to to protect whistleblowers, that is, those who speak openly about irregularities in the institutions and strengthen existing and future legal frameworks regulating this issue.
These recommendations would strengthen the supervisory functions of the Commissioner, and the rights of citizens would be adequately protected.
