Organisations throughout Europe insist on a transparent selection of the Commissioner in Serbia
Eight organisations for digital rights sent a letter to the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia requiring a transparent procedure of selection of the new Commissioner for Information of Public Importance and Personal data protection. The current Commissioner’s mandate is about to expire. Having in mind that the new Law on Personal Data Protection shall come into force in August 2019, and that the reform of the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Importance is underway, it is extremely important that the new Commissioner be appointed without delay, through a transparent procedure in accordance with the Law and that this function be attributed to the best candidate.
The said organisations have urged the Committee for Culture and Information of the National Assembly to:
- Initiate the procedure of selection of the new Commissioner as soon as possible;
- Make transparent the procedure of selection of the best candidate;
- Establish clear formal legal conditions for selection in a way to give priority to candidates who, beside general competences and experience in the area of human rights and freedom protection, have specific experience and skillsin the area of free access to information and personal data protection;
- Interview the best candidates at the session that would be open to public in order to provide to the Assembly a reasoned decision about the proposal;
- Reason the proposal for selection of the best candidate in accordance with each individual condition.
These organisations have prompted the National Assembly that selects the Commissioner to ensure the highest standards when selecting and appointing the new Commissioner in order to respect the foundations of a free, innovative and open digital society that will establish the highest level of personal data protection in Serbia, in accordance with the EU General Regulation on the protection of personal data (GDPR) and the Convention 108 of the Council of Europe.
The organizations who support this initiative are:
European Digital Rights (EDRi) – Europe
Association for Technology and Internet (APTI) – Romania
Electronic Frontier Norway – Norway
