The transparency regulations introduced by D.Lgs (Italian Legislative Decree) 97/2016 introduce the right of public access, i.e. the possibility of requesting documents, data or information which have not been published even though the publication of which on the corporate website is mandatory. Universal access must also be provided to all other data.
Interested parties can exercise their right to access administrative documents, as per art. 22 of Italian Law no. 241 of 7 August 1990 and art. 5 of D.Lgs (Italian Legislative Decree) no. 33 of 14 March 2013, the Revision of the law on public right of access and the obligations of public entities regarding the publication, transparency and dissemination of information. Access is guaranteed in cases where it is necessary to look after or protect one’s legal rights.
Documents that may compromise public and private interests pursuant to art. 5b of D.Lgs (Italian Legislative Decree) 33/2013 shall not be accessible.
Respect for the protection of personal data is also guaranteed by the time limits established by art. 122 of the Privacy Law and by art. 10 of the Code of Ethics for the processing of personal data for archiving purposes in the public interest or for reasons of historical research of 19 December 2018, published pursuant to art. 20, paragraph 4 of D.Lgs (Italian Legislative Decree) no. 101 of 10 August 2018, i.e. for:
- documents containing information on criminal matters, which can be consulted 40 years after their creation;
- documents covered by secrecy laws and relating to national domestic and foreign policy, which can be consulted 50 years after their creation;
- documents that reveal information on the state of health of individuals, on their sexual relationships or sexual orientation or private family relationships, which can be consulted 70 years after their creation.
Public or universal access requests must be sent to the Director of the State Archive of Novara.
Requests can be made in the following ways:
- by email to as-no@cultura.gov.it;
- by certified email to as-no@pec.cultura.gov.it
Requests submitted in electronic form are only valid if they present one of the following features:
- they are signed by the requesting party with a copy of an identity document attached;
- they are submitted via the requesting party’s certified email account;
- they are authenticated with a digital signature.
On receiving the request the State Archive of Novara will issue a receipt indicating the reference number and the deadline, of no more than 30 days, by which it will respond to the request, stating the reasons for its decision.
For all universal access requests the Admin Office will verify the existence of any potential opponents who will be duly informed and may oppose the decision of the Institution within 10 days.
In the event that the universal access request is denied or the established deadline is not respected, the requesting party may request a review pursuant to article 5, c. 7, of D.Lgs (Italian Legislative Decree) 33/2013.
The head of transparency will make a decision on the review request within 20 days, explaining their reasons.
