Original scientific paper
PROTECTION OF RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION BY CONSTITUTIONAL COMPLAINT
Alen Rajko
; Police Department, Rijeka, Croatia
Abstract
The Article 38 of the Constitution of Republic of Croatia guarantees the freedom of cociousness and expression and, among others the right of journalists to access information has been guaranteed. The question of access to data contents in it self a conflict between the interest o f secrecy and the interest of the Publicity: the both interests are legitimate, but to what extense?
Importance of accessible data has several aspects: individual, political, legal, professional, o f the media, economic. According to the measure of (non) existence of a presumption of accessibility of the data the comparative legislation in ibis area could be distinguished into the two main groups (the article contents instances of the both).
Following the cumulative requirements for protection of the constitutional rights by a constitutional complaint the main issues dealt with in the article make the following: has the constitutional right of access to information been limited only to the journalists? Against which decisions in realization o f the right on access to information a constitutional complaint is permitted? In which moment the regular legal remedies are exhorted?
In regard to the first question the arguments in favor of the both concepts have been presented (according to the restrictive one only the journalists are entitled and according to the wider one all citizens are entitled). The author is of the opinion that the decision on denial of access to information might be challenged by a constitutional complaint. There are the three variations o f possible answer to the question of an exhorted legal path: by a Council for Clearing the Secrecy in a procedure prescribed for that body to which a party applies, and by an application o f the Articles 66 respective 67 o f the Administrative Disputes Act.
In the conclusion the author summarizes the main theses of the article.
Keywords
right on access to information; constitutional complaint; secret data; right to know; freedom of expression
Hrčak ID:
197688
URI
Publication date:
8.9.1999.
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