This document has been provided by the
International Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ICNL).

ICNL is the leading source for information on th e legal environment for civil society and public
participation. Since 1992, ICNL has served as a resource to civil society leaders, government
officials, and the donor community in over 90 countries.

Visit ICNL’s Online Library at
https://www.icnl.org/knowledge/library/index.php
for further resources and research from countries all over the world.

Disclaimers Content. The information provided herein is for general informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended and should not be
construed to constitute legal advice. The information contai ned herein may not be applicable in all situations and may not, after the date of
its presentation, even reflect the most current authority. Noth ing contained herein should be relied or acted upon without the benefit of legal
advice based upon the particular facts and circumstances pres ented, and nothing herein should be construed otherwise.
Translations. Translations by ICNL of any materials into other languages are intended solely as a convenience. Translation accuracy is not
guaranteed nor implied. If any questions arise related to the accuracy of a translation, please refer to the original language official version of
the document. Any discrepancies or differences created in the tr anslation are not binding and have no legal effect for compliance or
enforcement purposes.
Warranty and Limitation of Liability. Although ICNL uses reasonable efforts to include ac curate and up-to-date information herein, ICNL
makes no warranties or representations of any kind as to its a ccuracy, currency or completeness. You agree that access to and u se of this
document and the content thereof is at your own risk. ICNL discl aims all warranties of any kind, express or implied. Neither ICNL nor any
party involved in creating, producing or delivering this document shall be liable for any damages whatsoever arising out of access to, use of
or inability to use this document, or any e rrors or omissions in the content thereof.

The Freedom of Information Act

1.6.2000 () Act on Free Access to Information and Amendments of Certain Acts.

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
Act on Free Access to Information and Amendments of Certain Acts
(The Freedom of Information Act)

The National Council has passed the following act:

Article I

§1
Subject of the Act
This act shall regulate the terms, procedure and scope of free access to information.

§2
Obligees
(1) The entities obliged to provide acces s to information under this Act (hereinafter the “Obligees”) shall
be state agencies, municipalities, as well as legal entities and natural persons that have been given the
power by law to make decisions on the rights and resp onsibilities of natural persons or legal entities in the
area of public administration, and that [obligation applies] only within the scope of their decision-making
power.
(2) Legal entities established by law and legal entities established by a state agency or municipality under
a special law shall also be Obligees.
(3) Legal entities established by Obli gees in accordance with Section 1 and 2 that manage public funds or
operate with state property or the property of municipalities shall also be the Obligees.
(4) A special law may also instruct other legal or natural entities to provide access to information.
§3
(1) Everybody shall have the right of access to in formation that the Obligees have available.
(2) Any Obligee under §2, Section 3 shall disclose only information pertaining to the management of
public funds and utilization of state property or th e property of municipalities; and [information] on the
content, performance [of any concluded agreements] and activities carried out on the basis of any
concluded agreement.
(3) Access to information shall be provided without any need to prove legal or other reason or interest for
which information is required.

§4
Definitions of Certain Terms
(1) An Applicant shall mean any natural or legal person requesting access to information.
(2) A mass access to information shall mean access of unlimited number of Applicants by means of
telecommunication, especially through the internet.
(3) Disclosed information shall mean information th at may by repeatedly [at any time] searched and
retrieved by anybody, especially inform ation published in the press or issued on a different data carrier
that enables recording and storing of information; or is displayed on a freely accessible official notice
board; or is accessible via any device enabling mass access [to information]; or available in a public
library.
(4) Associated information shall mean any informatio n closely related with the requested information,
mainly information on its existence, origin, number, reason for denial to provide information, period of
denial of information and the date of its reexamination.

§5
Mandatory Disclosure of Information
(1) Each Obligee under §2, Section 1 and §2, Section 2 shall disclose the following information:

a) the mode [method] of establishment of the Obligee, its powers and competencies and a
description of its organizational structure,
b) place, time and manner of obtaining information; information on where [appropriate] application, motion, proposal, complaint or any other filing may by filed,
c) place, period and procedure for filing a legal re medy and possibilities of judicial review of the
Obligee’s decision resolution, including explicit stat ement of requirements that must be observed,
d) procedure that must be followed by the Obligee in disposing of all applications, motions and
filings, including corresponding deadlines that must be adhered to,
e) a list of regulations, guidelines, instructions and interpretations governing Obligee’s actions or
decision-making; or regulating the rights and r esponsibilities of natural persons and legal entities
in relation to the Obligee,
f) scale of administrative charges collected by th e Obligee for administrative actions; and charges
for providing access to information,
(2) The National Council of the Slovak Republic shall disclose:
a) dates of its sessions and the sessions of its committees and draft session agendas,
b) minutes from public sessions,
c) copies of acts submitted [to the National Council] within three days after their filing with the
Office of the National Council,
d) copies of acts passed [by the National Council] within three days after the third reading,
e) information on the attendance of MPs at th e sessions of the National Council and the sessions
of its committees within three days after their end,
f) information on voting of MPs after each session of the National Council of the Slovak
Republic, with the exception of secret voting and voting at a closed ses
sion,
(3) The Office of the President of the Slovak Republic shall disclose:
a) the program and results of business trips of the President, receptions by President and places of
his stays,
b) signing of any act or its return to the National Council of the Slovak Republic,
c) presentation of awards,
d) designation or removal of a state official and acceptance of resignation,
e) any pardon, mitigation or removal of any sanctio n and any ordinance not to start or interrupt in
criminal prosecution,
f) organizational structure and number of employees of the Office of the President of the Slovak
Republic.
(4) The Government of the Slovak Republic shall di sclose the copies of materials (proposals, reports,
analyses) submitted at the Government sessions and an y adopted resolutions, including their supplements.
(5) The ministries, other central bodies of state administration and bodies of local state administration
shall disclose materials of programmatic, concept and strategic nature and the draft rules of law upon their
release for inter-ministerial commentary period.
(6) Provisions under Section 2 shall apply appropriately to disclosure of information by municipal
councils, city councils and local councils.

§6
(1) Information under §5 shall be disclosed in a way enabling mass access. This obligation shall not apply
to natural persons and the municipalities which do not have the status of a city.
(2) Information under §5 shall be disclosed in the seat of the Obligee and all its workplaces on a publicly
accessible place.
(3) Obligees that operate information systems shall disclose information contained therein on a freely
accessible internet page, unless disclosure of this information is prohibited by a special act. Such
disclosure shall not be a violation of special regulations.
(4) Obligees may also disclose information under the above sections in other ways. In addition to
information disclosed under the above sections, the Obligee may also disclose other information.
(5) In municipalities stipulated by a special act the Obligee shall disclose information also in the language
of national minorities.
(6) Provisions of §8 to §12 shall apply to any restrictions on disclosure of information.

§7
Obligation to Refer to Publicized Information
(1) Should the applicant request information that has already been disclosed, th e Obligee may, instead of
providing the information, forthwith, but not later than within five days, inform the applicant on how to
find and retrieve such disclosed information.
(2) Should the applicant insist on having access to pr eviously disclosed information, the Obligee shall
provide it. In such event, the period for providing access to information shall commence on the day the
applicant stated it insists on a direct access to information.
Limitations of the Access to Information

§8
Protection of Classified Facts
If the requested information has been classified in accordance with the law as a state or professional
secret, or as a fact subject to protection of info rmation by encryption, and the applicant has no
authorization, the Obligee shall not provide such inform ation, but shall reference to the appropriate legal
statute.

§9
Protection of Person and Personal Data
(1) Information relating to person and privacy of a natural person, personal letters, pictures and
representations, as well as any image and sound record ings relating a natural person or its personal
expressions, shall be provided by the Obligee only if so stipulated in a special act or with a prior consent
of the person affected. Should the affected person be dead, consent may be given by a close person.
Provisions of special regulations shall not be hereby affected.
(2) Information on personal data of a natural pe rson that is processed by information system under the
conditions set by a special act shall be provided by th e Obligee only if it is stipulated by a special act or
upon prior written consent of the person affected. Should the person affected not have legal capacity, the
consent may be given by an appropriate legal represen tative. Should the affected person be dead, consent
may be given by a close person.13

§10
Protection of trade secret
(1) The Obligee shall not disclose any info rmation classified as a trade secret.
(2) Disclosure of the following information shall not be deemed as a violation or jeopardizing a trade
secret:
a) information related to a significant impact on health of the population, world cultural and
natural heritage, environment, including biological diversity and ecological stability,
b) information on environmental pollution,
c) information obtained through public funds or relating to the use of public funds or state or
municipal property,

d) information on state assistance and information under §3, Section 2.

§11
Other Limitations on the Right to Information
(1) The Obligee shall limit disclosure of information or not provide information, if
a) information was obtained from a person not requi red by law to provide information, who upon
notification of the Obligee instructed the Obligee in writing not to disclose information. If the
person authorized to give consent for disclosure of information fails to reply within 7 days upon
notification, it shall be deemed that the person consented to disclosure of information. The person
must be informed of the consequences in the notification,
b) information is to be disclosed under a special act; and if it is to be disclosed under such law
within a period set in advance; and not later than such period,
c) it may violate intellectual property rights under a special law, except if the author consented to
the disclosure of information upon notification of the Obligee,
d) it concerns the decision-making power of the courts and law enforcement bodies,
e) it concerns the place of habitat of endangere d species of plants and animals, minerals and
fossils and there is a threat of inappropria te destruction, damage or disturbance.
(2) The provision of subsection a) shall not apply with respect to information obtained through public
funds or information concerning the use of these fund s or information concerning the use of state or
municipal property.
(3) If in order to carry out tasks under special ac t the Obligee obtained information from a third party
which is subject to non-disclosure rules or other lim itations protecting information from being publicized
or abused but the information may be provided unde r this Act, the Obligee shall provide only that
information which is directly connected with its tasks.

§12
Terms of Limitation
The Obligee shall exercise any limitation of the ri ght to information by providing all requested
information including all associated information, af ter excluding information stipulated by law. The
entitlement to refuse information shall only last as long as the reasons for non-disclosure exist.

§13
Disclosure of information under this Act shall not be deemed as a violation of confidentiality rules
stipulated in special act.
Disclosure of Information upon Request

§14
Disclosure of Information Request
(1) The request may be filed in writing, orally, by telephone, fax, e-mail or any other technically
reasonable way.
(2) It must be clear from the Request what Obligee it is addressed to, who filed it, what information it
concerns and what way of disclosure the Applicant suggests.
(3) Should the request fail to meet the requirements stipulated in Section 2, the Obligee shall notify the
Applicant without any delay to complete the incomple te request in a period of not less than seven days.
The Obligee shall instruct the Applicant on how to complete the request. If the Applicant fails to complete
the request despite the Obligee’s no tice and information cannot be provided due to such deficiency, the
Obligee shall table the request.
(4) The request is deemed filed on the day the Ob ligee with appropriate competence was notified.
(5) Upon request, the Obligee shall confirm in writing the filing of the request and shall give an estimated
cost of disclosure of information.

§15
Request Assignment
(1) If the Obligee does not have th e requested information available and knows where it is possible to
obtain the information, it shall pass on the request within five days to the Obligee that has the requested
information available, otherwise it shall reject the request by a resolution (§18).
(2) The Applicant shall be notified of the passing on of the request by the Obligee without delay.
(3) The period for request disposition shall commence anew on the day the Obligee obtained the passed
on request.

§16
Disclosure of Information Upon Request
(1) Information shall be disclosed mainly orally, by in spection of files, including the possibility to make a
copy or notes, by transfer of data to a data carrier, disclosure of copies of original with requested
information, by telephone, fax, mail or email. If it is not possible to provide information in a way
requested by the Applicant, the Obligee and the Applicant shall agree on a different
way of providing the
information.
(2) The Obligee shall enable anybody to make copies, notes or abstracts from files and documents without
any requirement to prove legal or any other interest.
(3) The Obligee shall take measures to prevent violat ion of obligations under §8 to 12 by inspection of
documents.

§17
Request Disposition Periods
(1) The Obligee shall dispose of the request for info rmation without undue delay, but not later than ten
days after filing of the request or after any miss ing requirements in the request are completed (§14,
Section 2 and 3) unless stipulated otherwise herein.
(2) The Obligee may extend the period (Section 1) for serious reasons by a maximum of ten days. The
following shall be deemed serious reasons:
a) seeking and gathering of requested informati on at a location not in the seat of the Obligee
disposing of [processing] the request,
b) seeking and gathering of a large amount of separate or differing information requested in a
single request,
c) justifiable technical problems related to the search and disclosure of information that are
expected to be removed within the extended period
(3) The Obligee shall notify the Appli cant of the extension of the period without delay, not later than
before the termination of the period (Section 1). The Obligee shall state the reasons leading to the
extension of the period in the notice.

§18
Request Disposition and Resolution
(1) If the Obligee provides the required information to the Applicant to the extent and by the manner
under §16 within the period stipulated by law, the Obligee shall issue a resolution that is to be recorded in
a file. No appeal is possible against this resolution.
(2) If the Obligee fails to satisfy the request, even partially, it shall issue a resolution to that effect within
the period stipulated by law. The Obligee shall not issue the resolution if the request was carried over
(§16, Section 3).
(3) If the Obligee failed to provide information within the period set for disposition of the request, or to
issue a resolution or provide access to the informati on, it shall be deemed that the Obligee issued a
resolution denying information. The third day after the termination of the period set for request
disposition shall be deemed to be the delivery day of the resolution (§17).
(4) If the Obligee (§2, Section 3) fails to satisfy the request, even partially, it shall file a motion with the
person that established the Obligee, or with whom the Obligee made an agreement on environmental
tasks, requesting that a resolution (Section 2) is issued.

§19
Remedies
(1) Parties to the proceeding may file an appeal against the Obligee’s resolution rejecting to disclose
requested information within 15 days from the delivery of such resolution or lapse of the period for
request disposition under §17. The appeal shall be filed with the Obligee that issued or should have issued
the resolution.
(2) The decision on the appeal against decision of the Obligee shall be made by the superior of the
Obligee that issued or should have issued the decision. If it is a decision of the municipal office, the
decision on the appeal shall be made by the mayor. It shall be possible to file an extraordinary remedy
against the decision of the central body of state administration, which will be decided by the head of the
central body of state administration.
(3) The appellate body shall make the decision with in 15 days from the delivery of the appeal by the
Obligee. If the appellate body makes no decision within this period, it shall be deemed that it issued a
resolution rejecting the appeal and confirming the appealed decision; the second day after the lapse of the
period for issuing of resolution shall be deemed to be the delivery day of this resolution.
(4) The resolution rejecting the application can be ex amined in a court proceeding under a special law.

§20
Registration of Requests
The Obligee shall keep a registry of requests in order to provide data necessary to review the process of
request disposition and data on most frequently requested information. The registry shall contain mainly
the following data:
a) the date of filing of the request,
b) information requested and the requested way of disclosure,
c) the disposition of request (provision of in formation, resolution or request assignment),
d) filing of an appeal.

§21
Costs
(1) Information shall be provided free of charge, with the exception of the payments not higher than the
cost of material for reproduction, cost of technical carriers and delivery of information to the Applicant.
(2) The Obligee may forgive the charges,
(3) The details on the costs of disclosure shall be regulated by a generally binding regulation of the
Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic,
(4) Any payments shall be the income of the Obligee.

§22
Transitional and Final Provisions
(1) Unless stipulated otherwise herein, general provisi ons on administrative proceedings shall apply to the
proceedings under this law.
(2) Disclosure of information from state archives shall be governed by a special regulation.

§23
Terminating Provisions
Act 171/1998 of the National Council on Free Access to Environmental Information shall be revoked.

Article II
Act 327/1990 on Offenses, as amended by Act 524/1990, Act 295/1992, Act 266/1992, Act 511/1992,
Act 237/1993, Act 42/1994, Act 248/1994 Coll., 249/1994 Coll., Act 250/1994 Coll., Act 202/1995 Coll.,
Act 207/1995 Coll., Act 265/1995 Coll., Act 285/1995 Coll., Act 160/1996 Coll., Act 168/1996 Coll., Act
143/1998 Coll. and Act 319/1998 Coll., shall be amended as follows:
1. §42a shall be inserted after §42 as follows:

„§42a
Violation of the Right to Information
(1) Any person knowingly issuing or disclosing untrue or inaccu rate information; or violating any
obligation stipulated in a special act3a); or causing a violation of the right to information by
issuing a decision, order or any other measure, shall be guilty of an offense.
(2) A fine up to SKK 50.000 may be imposed for an offense under Section 1 and relevant activity
banned for up to two years.
The footnote 3a shall read:
“3a) Act …./2000 on Free Access to Information, as amended (Freedom of Information Act).”
2. In §68, Section 1, phrase “§42a and” shall be inserted after the words “as well as offenses under”.

Article III
Act 145/1995 of the National Council on Administrative Charges, as amended by the following acts: Act
123/1996, Act 224/1996 Coll., Act 70/1997 Coll., Act 1/1998 Coll. and Act 232/1999, shall be amended
as follows:
§4, Section 2e) shall read:
„e) on free access to information“

Article IV
Act 287/1994 of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on Protection of Nature and Country, as
amended by Act 222/1996, shall be amended as follows:
Sections 2 and 3 of §49 sha ll be omitted. Numbering of Section 1 shall be omitted.

Article V
Act 17/1992 on Environment, as amended by Act 127/1994 and Act 287/1994 shall be amended as
follows:
Following §33a and §33b shall be inserted after §33 that shall read, including the headings:
Special provisions on environmental information
§33a
Disclosing Information on Environmental Pollution
(1) Any natural person licensed to carry out business or legal entity obliged under special
regulations, or resolutions based on such regul ation, to measure the amount of specified
emissions into the air or water or watch; or to measure any other impacts on environment by a
facility run by such person, shall disclose the results of these measurements and observations in
generally comprehensible form and on a gene rally easily accessible place on a regular basis not
later than ten days after the end of each mont h when such obligation applied and disclose a
summary not later than 30 days after the end of a calendar year.
(2) It must be clear from the publicized results of measurements and observations what was the
extent of the pollution of environment by the f acility and what was the relation of the measured
values to the legal or permitted limits.
(3) A natural person with a business license or a legal entity that gravely endangered or caused
damage to the environment, especially as a result of any accident of the facility, fire or traffic
accident shall inform the public without any delay. The information shall include, to the extent

known, a brief description of the incident, its causes, extent of damage or danger to the
environment or its individual parts and adopted measures. The form and extent of publicized
information shall correspond with the type, serious ness and extent of danger or damage to the
environment and capacity of the Obligee.
(4) Observance of the obligation under Section 3 shall not affect the disclosure obligation or any
other obligations under special acts.2)