Управа за сарадњу с дијаспором и Србима у региону Управа за дијаспору
Information of Public Importance
A request for Access to Information of Public Importance (hereinafter referred to as The Request) made to the Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region (hereinafter referred to as The Office) shall be submitted in writing, according to Article 15 of The Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance.
The Request shall contain: The name and address of The Office, the applicant’s details (full name, address, telephone number or other contact information), and as many details as possible regarding the requested information (you shall identify the information you request as clearly as possible, i.e. what the information relates to exactly) as well as the means by which the document containing the requested information should be sent out. An applicant shall not be required to specify the reasons for The Request, or any other data that might facilitate information retrieval.
The Office Address is Kneza Miloša 24-26, Belgrade.
The person authorised to act on The Request for free access to information of public importance that has been placed before is Olga Milojević, e-mail: o.milojevic@dijaspora.gov.rs
If The Request does not contain the details set out above, i.e. if any aspect of The Request is lacking, the authorised person from The Office shall be obliged to instruct the applicant, free of charge, on how to rectify the shortcomings in The Request, i.e. give the applicant instructions regarding what supplementary information to include.
In the event that the applicant does not rectify The Request in a given period of time, i.e. within 15 days of receiving instructions regarding what supplementary information to include, and if the lack of information is such that it prevents The Request from being processed, The Office shall reach a decision whereby The Request will be dismissed as incomplete.
The Office is obliged to allow an applicant access to information when The Request is lodged orally, and on the record. Such a Request shall be specially recorded, and deadlines applied accordingly, as though The Request were submitted in written form.
The Office may prescribe a sample Request form, but it shall also be obliged to review Requests that have not been lodged via that means.
According to Article 16 of The Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, The Office shall, without delay and at the latest within 15 days of receiving The Request, inform the applicant on whether it holds the requested information, and allow insight into the document containing the requested information i.e. issue or send out a copy of the document to the applicant. The copy of the document shall be deemed sent out on the day it leaves the registry office of The Office.
If The Office is, for a justified reason, unable to comply with all these requirements within 15 days of receiving The Request, The Office shall promptly inform the applicant and set another deadline that may not exceed 40 days from receipt of The Request, within which time it shall inform the applicant that it holds the information and allow him/her insight into the document containing the information sought, i.e. issue the applicant with a copy of the document.
If The Office does not respond to The Request by the deadline, the applicant may lodge a complaint with the Commissioner, according to Article 22 of The Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance.
Alongside the notice on allowing the applicant insight into the document containing the requested information i.e. issuing the applicant with a copy of the document, The Office shall inform the applicant of the time, place and manner in which information shall be available for insight, the necessary costs of duplicating the document, or inform the applicant of the possibility to use his/her own equipment for duplication in the event that it does not have the technical means.
The applicant shall be allowed insight into a document containing the requested information on The Office’s official premises.
The applicant may, for justified reasons, ask to gain insight into the document containing the requested information at a time different from the one set by The Office.
A person unable to gain insight into a document containing the requested information without an escort shall have the opportunity to do so with an escort.
If The Office grants The Request, it shall not issue a separate decision, but shall make an official note regarding this.
In the event that The Office refuses to inform the applicant, either entirely or partially, on whether it holds the information sought, or allow the applicant insight into the document containing the requested information, or issue i.e. send to the applicant a copy of the document, it shall be obliged to issue a decision on the rejection of The Request and give a written explanation of the decision, and to notify the applicant of the legal means at his/her disposal to appeal against such a decision.
According to Article 17 of The Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance, insight into a document containing the requested information shall be free of charge.
A copy of the document containing the requested information shall be issued, and the applicant shall be obliged to reimburse the necessary costs of duplication, and also, in the event of sending, the costs that process entails.
When The Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region does not hold the document containing the requested information, it shall refer The Request to the Commissioner, and inform the Commissioner and the applicant about who, to its knowledge, holds the document.
An applicant may lodge a complaint with the Commissioner within 15 days of receiving a decision from The Office for Cooperation with the Diaspora and Serbs in the Region, according to Article 22 of The Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance
On the Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal Data Protection website (www.poverenik.rs) you can also download the Complaint Against the Decision of the Government Body Form and the Complaint in Cases of Failure to Process The Request (Silence of Authority) Form, as well as example complaints.