2004 freedominfo.org Global Survey Results - Slovakia
Text from the freedominfo.org Global Survey: Freedom of Information and Access to Government Records Around the World, by David Banisar (updated 12 May 2004)

The 1992 Constitution provides for a general right of access to information and a specific right of access to environmental information: (1)

Article 26 (5) State bodies and territorial self-administration bodies are under an obligation to provide information on their activities in an appropriate manner and in the state language. The conditions and manner of execution will be specified by law.

Article 45 Everyone has the right to timely and complete information about the state of the environment and the causes and consequences of its condition.

The Act on Free Access to Information was approved in May 2000 and went into force on January 1, 2001. (2) Any person or organization can demand information held by state agencies, municipalities and private organizations that are making public decisions. The body must respond no later than 10 days after receipt of the request and must keep a registry of requests. Costs are limited to reproduction and can be waived.

There are exemptions for information that is classified as a state or professional secret, personal information, trade secrets (not including environmental pollution, cultural sites or anything related to public funds), information that was obtained "from a person not required by law to provide information" and who declines to release it, intellectual property, and information on the decision-making power of the courts, bodies in criminal proceedings, and habitats that need to be protected.

Appeals are made to higher agencies and can be reviewed by a court. A public official violating the Act can be fined SK50,000.

The law also requires that a variety of information is published by the government bodies including their structures, powers, procedures, and lists of regulations, guidelines, instructions and interpretations. The National Council is also required to publish the data of sessions, minutes, copies of acts and information on the attendance and voting records of MPs.

The Citizen and Democracy Association conducted four reviews of the implementation of the access and publication provisions in 2002 and found that basic information was usually provided but "problematic information" such as contracts and privatization is often withheld. It also found that information was often arbitrarily withheld or only given when an attorney was involved. The Association also was involved in several court cases including two where the Supreme Court ruled for disclosure and also provided legal assistance in other cases.

The Act on Protecting Classified Information was approved in 2001 as part of Slovakia's bid to join NATO. It sets out a list of 21 categories of classified information and established the National Security Office (NBU). The director of the NBU said in 2001 that "Ministries decide on what is classified information and what is not. The laws contain annexes defining basic information and the degrees of secrecy. It is quite obvious that this has been done by incompetent people." (3) The government is now developing a new law which creates vaguer categories of information that can be classified by regulation. In August 2002, the Parliament approved a law on access to files of the StB, the former communist-era secret police. (4) The law created an Institute for National Memory. Thus far, the Intelligence Service has refused to provide information to the Institute and is requiring that Institute staff must be vetted to obtain access to files. (5)

Under the Act on Protection of Personal Data, individuals can access and correct person information held by public and private bodies. (6) It is enforced by the Office for Personal Data Protection. (7)

The Act on Free Access amended the Environmental Protection Act to provide access to environmental information. The Ministry of Environment is developing a separate Access to Environmental Information Act which will supersede the general Act. However, the draft act creates new exemptions and extends the time frame for responses to sixty days. Slovakia has not signed the Aarhus Convention on access to environmental information.

Notes

1. Constitution of the Slovak Republic 1992. http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/icl/lo00000_.html

2. Act on Free Access to Information. http://www.info211.sk/zakon_en.php

3. Slovak Security Office Director Discusses System of Security Screening, 02 Nov 2001 (translated by FBIS).

4. RFE/RL, 21 August 2002.

5. RFE/RL, 4 August 2003.

6. Act no. 428 of 3 July 2002. http://www.dataprotection.gov.sk/buxusnew/docs/act_428.pdf

7. Homepage: http://www.dataprotection.gov.sk/