PRISTUP DO GRAĐE – SLOBODNO ZAKONODAVSTVO I PROPISI
ACCESS TO THE MATERIALS - FREE LEGISLATION AND REGULATIONS

Summary/Abstract: The level of openness and public access to archives differs from one country to another and depends from the national traditions that proceed from different historical experiences and legal concepts. The freedom of information and access to archives are traditionally no subject of the legislation. The demands for access to archives in a brother sense increased in the last decade and initiated the legislation in many countries. That made the access to information and consequently the access to archives a matter of public interest and public legislation. Unexpected consequence of increased rights of access to archives is inevitable conflict between the principle of open access to the information and the protection of personal rights. In many cases open access to archives means also the violation of the private sphere of an individual. The question of personal data protection represents for archives the great challenge of balancing between those demanding information and those obliged to their protection. This balance must be provided in daily practice as well as it has to be legally defined. Not with standing it has to be emphasized that unrestricted access to archives is not possible. Many archives created in the modern society relate to private life of individuals, like medical condition, personal and family position, professional education etc. Therefore access has to be restricted. However there is no unified restriction since the concept of privacy is not universally defined.

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