Openness of Public Life as the Constitutional Rule of Access to Public Information and the Re-Use of Public Sector Information

The economic right to reuse public sector information derives from the entity’s fundamental right to acquire and disseminate information. It should be assumed that the Act on the re-use of public sector information is such a regulation that allows not only access to information but also the use of the public good for commercial and non-commercial purposes, which is the public information resource. However, the issue of the reuse of public sector information is also related to the principle of openness of public life expressed in constitutional provisions. The rights associated with this principle should be analyzed in the context of public subjective rights. This is also how the right applies to access to public information, but also the right to re-use public sector information, especially where public sector information meets the conditions of public information. The article undertakes an analysis of similarities and differences in the terms public information and public sector information.

Opening up public data is foster the participation of citizens in political and social life and contribute to policy areas such as the environment. The 2003 Directive on the re-use of public sector information set out the general legislative framework at European level. The Directive provides for a minimum degree of harmonisation. The 2009 review of the Directive indicated that, in spite of progress since 2003, barriers to the cross-border use of public sector information still existed. Some of these barriers can be tackled within the existing legislation, others cannot. The general re-use policy is complemented by legislative or policy initiatives in specific sectors. The re-use of public sector data, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes, should fully respect European and national privacy legislation. The objectives of fostering open government data and protecting personal data can reinforce each other if based on pro-active and conscious information management by the public sector. Moreover, the implementation of open data policies should fully respect the intellectual property rights of third parties and the European Union’s obligations under international treaties on intellectual property rights.