Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006

Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006of Serbia 314 . The obligation of issuing a Manual, the Commissioner hadfulfilled according to the law on 23rd May 2005 315 . At the beginning of2006, the Government had, on the proposition of the Commissioner andthe Ministry of Culture, brought a Regulation on the height of the necessaryexpenses for issuing a copy of the documents containing information ofpublic importance 316 , by which the basic legal conditions for the work ofthe Office of the Commissioner were fulfilled.The Office of the Commissioner published the Guide through the lawon free access to information of public significance also in the Romalanguage 317 . This is the first legal act in Serbia published in the language ofthis national minority.The Constitution of Serbia did not anticipate the „right to free accessto information” as such, but defined a new „right to be informed” 318 .This means that everyone has the right to be accurately, completely, andtimely informed on issues of public significance, that the means of publicinforming are obliged to obey this rule 319 and that everyone has the rightof access to data in the possession of state organs and organizations whichhave public authorizations 320 . Therefore, such a definition in a large extentdiffers from the already regulated right to free access to information. Also,the Commissioner had not been made a constitutional category, unlike theombudsman 321 . According to the Constitutional law, it is regulated thatthe newly elected members of the Parliament will, during the first session,coordinate with the Constitution the laws which regulate the Protector ofcitizens and the realization of the right of the citizens to be informed andelect the Protector of citizens, the organ responsible for monitoring therealization of the right of the citizens to be informed, the President of theNational Bank of Serbia and the organs of the State revisory institution 322 .There is no need to coordinate the law on free access to informationwith the Constitution, so the intention of the framers of the law is not314 Law on free access to information, Article 34, Paragraph 4, see above under 3315 Instructions for publishing the report can be found on the website: http://www.poverenik.org.yu/Dokumentacija/26_ldok.pdf,visited on November 23 rd , 2006316 Regulation on the height of the necessary expenses for issuing a copy of the documents containing informationof public importance, can be found on the website: http://www.poverenik.org.yu/dokumentacija.asp?ID=4, visited on November 23 rd , 2006317 The guide in the Roma language can be found on the website: http://www.poverenik.org.yu/Dokumentacija/56_ldok.pdf,visited on November 23 rd , 2006318 Constitution of Serbia, Article 51, see above under 7319 Ibid, Paragraph 1320 Ibid, Paragraph 2321 Ibid, Article 131322 Constitutional Law, Article 5, see above under 10473