Access to the Public Sector Information and its Restrictions in Democratic Society

U radu se analizira pravo na pristup informacijama javnog sektora te njegova važnost u okviru modernizacije hrvatske javne uprave. Najveći dio elemenata važnosti (ne)dostupnosti informacija javnog sektora može se svesti na važnost količine i kvalitete informacija u procesu odlučivanja. Raščlamba političkog konteksta (ne)dostupnosti informacija javnog sektora obuhvaća pitanja formiranja političkih preferencija, novih oblika informativne diskriminacije u suvremenim demokracijama te informacija kao resursa stvarne moći neformalnih skupina. Pravni kontekst obuhvaća pitanja ostvarivanja prava na slobodu izražavanja, zaštite osobnih podataka i donošenja odluka pravne naravi. Iznijeta je i uloga informacija za ostvarivanje načela javnosti uprave i kontrole uprave. Sažeto su razmotreni relevantni međunarodni instrumenti i usporedni modeli, s naglaskom na Zelenu knjigu Europske komisije. Aktualno hrvatsko zakonodavstvo i praksa analizirani su na ustavnoj razini te razini odredaba postupovnih propisa, zaštite tajnosti (osobnih) podataka i prava novinara, odnosa tijela državne uprave i građana, kaznenih odredbi te ostalih bitnih propisa, kao i u pogledu odredbi Sporazuma o stabilizaciji i pridruživanju. Situaciju u praksi obilježava paradoks inverzije u postupanju-, svakodnevno smo svjedoci otjecanja povjerljivih podataka, među kojima su i oni kod kojih je potreba tajnosti nedvojbena, dok su tijela javne vlasti istodobno sklona onemogućavati ili otežavati pristup informacijama koje trebaju biti dostupne. Zaključno su predložene zakonodavne mjere (prvenstveno zakonsko uređenje općeg prava na pristup informacijama javnog sektora, uz propisana ograničenja) te organizacijske i edukacijske mjere i mjere u sferi službeničkog profesionalizma i etike, koje moraju pridonijeti modernizaciji hrvatske javne uprave na ovom području.The question of the right of access to the public sector information and its importance in modernization of Croatian public administration is analysed in this article. Most elements of the importance of (in)accessibility of the public sector information can be considered to refer to the importance of quantity and quality of information in the process of decisions-making. The analysis of the political context of (in)accessibility of the public sector information includes the questions of forming political preferences, newforms of information discrimination in contemporary democracies and information as a source of real power of informal groups. The legal context includes questions of the realisation of the right to freedom of expression, protection of personal data and making decisions of legal nature. The role of information in the realisation of the principle of public nature of administration and its control is presented. Relevant international instruments and comparative models are summarized, with the emphasis on the Green Book of the European Commission. Current Croatian legislation and practice are analysed at the constitutional level and at the level of procedural rules, protection of the privacy of (personal) data and the rights of the press, the relation between the agencies of state administration and citizens, penal regulations and other essential regulations, as well as with respect to the regulations of the Agreement on Stabilization and Association. The situation in practice is marked by the paradox of the inversion in acting: we are daily witnesses of the leak of confidential data, among which are those whose need for secrecy is not doubtful, while at the same time the bodies of public power tend to make impossible or difficult the access to information which should be accessible. In conclusion, the author proposes legislative measures (primarily legal regulation of the universal right to access to the public sector information, with due restrictions) and organizational and educational measures as well as measures in the sphere of professionalism and ethics of public servants, which should contribute to modernization of Croatian public administration in this field