Act on the Right of Access to Information

Pursuant to the Act on the Right of Access to Information (Official Gazette No. 25/13, 85/15, 69/22), all Croatian and foreign natural and legal persons have the right of access to information that is in the possession of public authorities, in an equal manner and on equal terms.

“Information” refers to any piece of data in the possession of a public authority in the form of a document, record, file, register, regardless of the manner in which it is stored (written, drawn, printed, recorded, magnetic, optical, electronic or other forms), which the authority concerned created on its own or in collaboration with other authorities or received from another person and which is related to the scope or organization of the public authority’s work.

The right of access to information pertains to the right of users to request and obtain information as well as the public authority’s commitment to provide access to the requested information, i.e. to make information public regardless of submitted requests when such publication is defined by law or other acts.

Media and access to information

The media can exercise the right of access to information through the Media Act or the Act on the Right of Access to Information.

The Media Act governs the journalists’ constitutional right of access to information as defined in Article 38(3) of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia (Official Gazette No. 85/10, consolidated text). Pursuant to Article 6 of the Media Act, the Head of the public authority or its spokesperson is obliged to provide journalists with the information they requested within a reasonable deadline, ensuring accuracy of the information provided. Public authorities are required to provide accurate, complete and timely information on issues pertaining to the scope of their work.

The Act on the Right of Access to Information shall guarantee any natural and legal person the right of access to information, within the time frame and procedure as defined by law.

Re-use of information

Re-use of information refers to the right of users as provided for by the provisions of the 2013 Act on the Right of Access to Information and refined by the 2015 Amendments to the Act, pursuant to the transposition of the EU Directive on the Re-use of public sector information. This concerns information in the possession of public authorities in the form of registers, databases, records or other types of information which are suitable for re-use, in such a manner that they can be transformed into computer applications. Re-use of information and open data, as well as freely available information published on the internet are the drivers of the European digital market.

Re-use means the right of natural or legal persons to use the public authority’s information for commercial or non-commercial purpose, which is different from the original purpose of this information; the original purpose is achieved through the scope of work or activity that is generally considered a public affair as defined by law or another act (Article 5(6)).

Read more on the re-use of information at the following link: https://www.pristupinfo.hr/ponovna-uporaba-podataka-i-otvoreni-podaci/.

Exercising the right of access to information

The right of access to information and re-use of information can be exercised by submitting a request to the Croatian Science Foundation’s Information Officer, within the time frame as defined by the Act on the Right of Access to Information.