Press Releases - Archive

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection deems the two decisions, which have recently been issued by the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Serbia in quick succession, regarding the rights which exercise is ensured by the Commissioner, as very significant for the exercise of human rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the law. The Commissioner has expressed his pleasure as the decisions affirm the positions which the Commissioner has insisted on since the beginning of implementation of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance and the Law on Personal Data Protection.

In this regard the Commissioner, Rodoljub Sabic, has highlighted the following:

The European Court of Human Rights has delivered judgment on June 25, 2013 in the case of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights vs. the Republic of Serbia and unanimously ruled that there has been a violation of Article 10 of the Convention and of the right to access information.

In short, as a reminder, this case dates back to 2005 when the Association of Citizens Youth Initiative for Human Rights filed a request to the Security Intelligence Agency to disclose the number of requests for wiretapping. On the occasion of the failure to get the information, this organization filed a complaint with the Commissioner, who ordered the SIA to deliver the requested information. SIA has not acted upon the decision of the Commissioner, nor has the Government of the Republic of Serbia taken enforcement action. The case was initiated in 2006, before the European Court of Human Rights.

''Data protection and the internet – new challenges" in Zagreb 20-21 june 2013

The aim of the workshop was to exchange knowledge and experiences in the field of personal data protection in the use of modern information and communication technologies, as well as the promotion and strengthening of cooperation between the competent EU institutions and the region.

Representatives of the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection of the Republic of Serbia presented their experiences in this field, with special emphasis on the protection of personal data when published on the Internet (especially Personal Identification Number (JMBG)), including the experiences from the supervision of mobile and fixed telephone operators regarding the forwarding of ''retained data'' to public authorities and finally the Commissioner's experiences regarding personal data protection when published on social networks.

Having in mind that all societies with advanced IT face almost the same challenges in this field, the conclusion of the meeting was that the resolution of this issue lies in joint action of both the institutions of the system and all other stakeholders relevant for the development of a modern information society, with the aim to raise the awareness of the user of modern technologies itself about the culture of personal data protection. In addition, all participants of the event highlighted their readiness to further cooperation through exchange of experiences and good practice in the development and implementation of measures for the improvement of situation in this field.

Participation costs of the Commissioner's representatives at this roundtable were borne by the EU Commission – TAIEX.

The Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection forwarded the Ministry of Justice and State Administration the Model Law on Whistleblowing and Whistleblowers.

In this regard, the Commissioner, Rodoljub Sabic, has stated the following: