Second-instance proceedings

The Information Commissioner is a second-instance body to deal with appeals of users on the decisions of public authorities bodies. An appeal may be submitted by the user to the Information Commissioner within 15 days from the date of delivery of the decision, through the first-instance body that issued the decision. Also, the appeal to the Commissioner can be filed if public authority did not decide on the request for information application within the legal deadline (so-called silence of administration). In this case, the appeal can also be filed directly to the Commissioner.

The deadline for deciding on appeal is 30 days from the date of the submission. The deadline can be extended to up to 60 days when the Commissioner is examining the regularity or is carrying out a test of proportionality and public interest. It can be extended to up to 90 days when the Commissioner seeks the opinion of the Office of the National Security Council regarding classified information.

An administrative dispute may be initiated against the decision of the Commissioner before the High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia. The dispute can be initiated by the body of public authority that has solved the request or by the user user who filed an appeal with the Commissioner. The administrative dispute can be initiated even if the Commissioner has not decided on the appeal within prescribed deadlines. The High Administrative Court of the Republic of Croatia must make a decision on the lawsuit within 90 days. The lawsuit has a delaying effect if the solution provides access to the information.