Commentary on the Judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of 21 February 2023 (III OSK 7096/21, CBOSA) Regarding the Disclosure of University Examination Questions Pursuant to the Act on Access to Public Information

Abstract

The commented judgment concerns the disclosure of questions from the semester written exam conducted at a university on the basis of the Act on Access to Public Information. The Supreme Administrative Court decided that such questions do not constitute public information, because they do not concern public matters, and are also an “internal document”, i.e. they concern matters related to the current functioning of the entity and do not express its position towards other entities. The author of the commentary accepts the position of the Court because it cannot be inferred from the provisions defining the tasks of a university that questions from semester written exams constitute public information. There are no legal regulations that would specify in detail the course of such exams and indicate that their results directly shape the student’s legal situation. In addition, such questions are an internal document, as they are only an element of the preparation of documentation concerning the student, allowing only at later decisions to be made regarding his further status.