In practice, some information from public authorities is needed “yesterday”: a document, a situation report, a statistic, a copy of a record held by an institution, and so on. The law recognizes your right to request and obtain information of public interest, and public authorities have clear obligations: they must provide the requested information and comply with certain deadlines.
Below is the essential information from the current legislation on who may request such information, how a request should be submitted, and how quickly you must receive a response.
- Who can request information of public interest?
The law is straightforward: any person has the right to request and obtain information of public interest from public authorities and institutions, under the conditions set by law.
Conversely, public authorities and institutions have the obligation to provide, upon request, information of public interest—whether the request is made in writing or orally.
- The written request: mandatory elements
If you submit your request in writing, it must include the following:
- the public authority/institution to which the request is addressed;
- the requested information, described in a way that allows the institution to identify the information of public interest;
- the requester’s surname and first name, signature, and the address where the reply should be sent.
An important detail concerns how you describe the information: it must be clear enough for the institution to identify the document or information requested. The more precise you are, the higher the chances of receiving a complete response on time.
- Response deadline: 10 days or (in certain cases) 30 days
Public authorities and institutions must respond in writing to requests for information of public interest:
- within 10 days, or
- within no more than 30 days from the registration of the request, depending on the difficulty, complexity, volume of documentary work, and the urgency of the request.
What matters most: if the institution considers that it needs more than 10 days to identify and provide the information, it may respond within a maximum of 30 days, but only if it informs the requester in writing within the first 10 days that the deadline is being extended.
In short: either you receive the response within 10 days, or you are notified within 10 days that the deadline is extended up to a maximum of 30 days.
- Refusal to provide information: reasoning and a 5-day deadline
If the institution refuses to provide the requested information, the refusal must:
- be reasoned; and
- be communicated within 5 days of receiving the request.
Therefore, a refusal cannot be unsubstantiated and cannot be communicated after a long period— the law requires both justification and a short communication deadline.
- Requesting and receiving information electronically
The law allows requests for and access to information of public interest to be carried out electronically, provided the necessary technical conditions are met.
In practice, this is especially relevant when you want a quick reply to an email address, or when the requested information already exists in digital format.
Conclusion
In summary, the law sets the basic rules for access to information of public interest: anyone may request such information; a written request must contain essential elements; the institution must reply within 10 days (or, at most, 30 days, provided you are notified within the first 10 days); and any refusal must be reasoned and communicated within 5 days. Where technical conditions allow, communication may also take place electronically.
In the next article, I will explain what happens with oral requests, the minimum hours during which information must be provided, how copying costs are handled, which requests do not fall under this regime, and how to access documentary holdings for studies and research.
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