Receipt of applications and other submissions

A request for information must be clear.
The request is deemed to have been submitted on the date on which the obliged body received it.

Procedure for submitting and processing written requests for information

The request must clearly state to which obliged body it is addressed and that the applicant is seeking the provision of information within the meaning of Act No. 106/1999 Coll., on free access to information, as amended. A

natural person shall state the following in their request:

first name, surname
date of birth
address of permanent residence, or, if not registered for permanent residence, the address of their place of abode and the address for service, if different from the address of permanent residence or place of abode (the address for service also includes an email address).

A legal person shall state the following in their application:

name
identification number
registered office address and the address for service, if different from the registered office address. (The address for service also includes an email address).

If the application is submitted electronically, it must be done via the electronic submission portal e-podatelna@pribram.eu and need not be accompanied by a qualified electronic signature.

The application is processed by the department with substantive jurisdiction over the subject matter of the application.

The relevant department shall assess the content of the request and:

if a lack of information about the applicant prevents the processing of the request for information in accordance with Act No. 106/1999 Coll., on Free Access to Information, as amended, it shall request the applicant, within 7 days of the date of submission of the request, to provide further details; if the applicant fails to comply with this request within 30 days of its delivery, the request shall be set aside;
if the request is unclear, it is not clear what information is being requested, or it is formulated too generally, it shall invite the applicant, within seven days of the submission of the application, to clarify it; if the applicant fails to clarify the application within 30 days of the date of delivery of the invitation, it shall decide to reject the request;
if the information requested does not fall within the remit of the obliged body, the department with substantive jurisdiction shall set the request aside and notify the applicant of the reasons for this within 7 days of the date of receipt of the request,
if no decision is taken in accordance with the above, the information shall be provided in accordance with the request within 15 days of the date of receipt of the request or of the date on which it was supplemented; if a licence is required, a final licence offer shall be submitted to the applicant within this period.

A record shall be kept of the procedure for providing the information.

The obliged body may extend the deadline for providing the information for serious reasons, but by no more than 10 days, i.e. to 25 days.

Serious reasons include:

the retrieval and collection of the requested information from other offices separate from the office processing the request,
the retrieval and collection of a large volume of separate and disparate information requested in a single application,
consultation with another obliged body which has a significant interest in the decision on the request, or between two or more departments of the authority which have a significant interest in the subject matter of the request.

The applicant must always be demonstrably informed of the extension of the deadline and the reasons for it, in good time before the deadline for providing the information expires.

Decision to reject a request

If the Authority does not grant the request, even in part, it shall, within the time limit for processing the request, issue a decision rejecting the request or, where applicable, rejecting part of the request, except in cases where the request is deferred.
If the request has not been granted on grounds of the protection of trade secrets or the protection of third parties’ rights in relation to the subject-matter of copyright under Act No. 121/2000 Coll., the Act on Copyright, on Rights Related to Copyright and on Amendments to Certain Acts (the Copyright Act), as amended, the grounds for the decision must state who exercises the right to that trade secret or who exercises the property rights to that subject-matter of copyright protection, if that person is known to the obligated body.

Information shall not be provided where it concerns:

classified information,
trade secrets,
confidentiality of financial circumstances.

The obliged body may restrict the provision of information if:

it relates exclusively to the authority’s internal guidelines and staff regulations,
it is new information generated during the preparation of a decision by the authority, unless otherwise provided for by law; this applies only until such time as the preparation is concluded by a decision,
the information has been provided by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation or the European Union and is protected by those organisations with the designation ‘NATO UNCLASSIFIED’ or “LIMITE”, and this classification is respected in the Czech Republic in order to fulfil the obligations arising for the Czech Republic from its membership of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation or the European Union, unless the originator has given consent to its disclosure.

Further restrictions on the right to information apply where:

the information was created without the use of public funds and was provided by a person who is not legally obliged to do so, unless that person has stated that they consent to the disclosure of the information,
the information is published by the obligated body pursuant to a specific Act and at predetermined regular intervals until the next such interval,
this would infringe the protection of third parties’ rights in relation to the subject matter of copyright.

Detailed information is set out in Act No. 106/1999 Coll., as amended.