Access to official documents
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ACCESS TO OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS
The President of the Republic of Italy Decree n.184, came into force on 12 April 2006 the new regulation that stipulates the citizens’ right to access official administrative documents of their interest.
What does this mean?
The definition of ‘Access to official documents’ means that this gives the right to citizens to examine and obtain copy of administrative documents.
All citizens, firms, associations have this right and all those who have a direct and real interest corresponding to a lawfully governed situation which is linked to a document for which a request of access is being made.
‘Access to official documents’ according to the new law in force, it sets a general principle for the administrative office to promote citizens’ participation to ensure the impartiality and transparence of the administration’s activity.
The exclusion to the right to access is defined in Article 24 of the national law n. 241/1990 in which there is the exclusion of this right for documents that have been placed under a general enquiry investigation of the Public Administration and for petitions that concern individual citizens’ Privacy Right, companies and associations.
How is access requested?
The request to access official administrative documents shall be made in writing as provided in the new regulation in force. It shall be sent to the responsible administrative office and shall in any case be supported by grounds for complaint.
The request to access may be submitted also through the ‘Relations with the Public Office’. Should the Public Administration verify the existence of an adverse party interest on the basis of the document’s content, then, they will request the complainant to submit a formal request.
Regarding Central and Suburb Administrations of the state the request to access must be forwarded to the Commission for Access.
The Public Administration Response
The Public Administration has thirty days to respond to the access request whether in a positive way agreeing to the citizen’s request and allowing him thus access to the documents or in a negative way, rejecting the request or letting the 30-day period expire. It should be understood that the person in charge of the formal procedure must provide a statement of reasons for the decision.
The citizen’s appeal
In the event of a request denial, the citizen may submit an appeal within 30 days to the TAR (Administrative Appeal Tribunal) or to the competent Ombudsperson, who will have 30 days to respond and in the event that even this period expires without an outcome, the request should be considered denied.
It should be noted that the time limit to apply to the TAR has been suspended according to the Art. 25 of the national law 241/1990 and consequently amended. In the case that the person requesting access has appealed to the Ombudsperson, the thirty day period starts from the date on which the complainant receives the Ombudsperson’s reply to his or her appeal.
The citizen, however has a further 30 days to refer to the TAR against the negative response and the TAR will have a further 30 days in which to decide.
To present the appeal to the provincial Ombudsman:
Form (PDF - 64 KB)
- Legge 7 agosto 1990, n. 241 (PDF - 178 KB)
- D.P.R. 12 aprile 2006, n. 184 ( PDF - 28 KB)