Since July 2026 Montenegro has applied a new Law on Free Access to Information (Official Gazette 160/25), which replaced the 2012 law. Any domestic or foreign individual or legal entity may ask a public body for information without giving reasons. You file the request in writing or orally, and the body decides on it within 15 days at the latest, or within 48 hours when the protection of life, liberty, health or the environment is at stake. No fee is charged, and when the body grants the request in full, it sends the information without a decision and without charging costs. You appeal a decision, and also the body's silence, to the Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information within 15 days, and the Agency decides within 30 days.
This guide explains whom you can ask for information, how to file a request, the deadlines the body must meet, what you pay, when a body may refuse and how to appeal.
Whom can you ask for information?
- A public body is a state body, a state administration body, a municipality and local administration body, an institution and a company founded or majority-owned by the state or a municipality.
- A public body is also a legal entity, sole trader or individual that exercises public powers or provides a public service, manages a public fund or is financed mostly from public revenue.
- Information is any document, part of a document, piece of data or data set the body holds, in any form, no matter who created it.
- On its website the body publishes an access to information guide, forms, a list of public officials and managers with their pay, and individual payments to individuals and legal entities, except data to which access is restricted.
How do you file a request?
- You hand in a written request in person or send it by post, fax or electronically, and you make an oral request on record at the body, which gives you proof of receipt.
- In the request you state the title of the information or details by which it can be found, how you want access and your name, surname and address.
- The Agency publishes a request form, but the body must also act on a request that is not on the form.
- One request can cover several pieces of information, but a request to draw up an analysis, instructions, an opinion or answers to questions does not count as a request for access to information.
- You choose whether to inspect the information at the body, copy or scan it yourself, or have the body send you a copy in person, by post or electronically.
- If the request is incomplete, the body asks you to correct it within five days, and if it does not hold the information, it forwards the request to the competent body within five days.
- You get to inspect a public register or public record within five days, without a decision.
What deadlines must the body meet?
| Situation | Deadline |
| ordinary request | a decision within 15 days of a complete request |
| protection of life, liberty, public health or the environment | a decision within 48 hours |
| very large information, a harm test or a search through many documents | an extension of eight days, with written notice within five days |
| the information is already published | notice of where it is published within five days |
| carrying out the decision | three days from delivery of the decision, or five days from proof of payment of costs |
What do you pay?
- No fee is charged for a request for access to information.
- When the body grants the request in full, it sends you the information without a decision and without charging costs.
- In other cases you pay the actual costs of copying, scanning and sending before you receive the information.
- Under the Regulation on reimbursement of costs, which applies until new rules are adopted, a black-and-white A4 copy costs 0.03 euros per page with the first 20 pages free, scanning costs 0.20 euros per page and a CD or DVD 1 euro.
- The body may waive costs of up to 3 euros, and for persons with disabilities and persons in social need the body bears the costs.
- You also pay nothing for information the body was required to publish on its website but did not.
When may a body refuse a request?
- The body refuses a request if it asks for new information to be created, if you do not correct an incomplete request, if you received the same information in the last 90 days or if the body does not hold the information and does not know who does.
- It may restrict access only after a harm and public interest test, to protect privacy, security and defence, a criminal investigation, business and tax secrets, intellectual property and other interests listed in the law.
- Data on public officials and on public money, except social benefits, health care and unemployment benefits, are not protected as privacy.
- If only part of the information is restricted, you get a copy with that part deleted, marked "deletion made" with the extent of the deletion.
How do you appeal?
- You lodge the appeal directly with the Agency within 15 days of receiving the decision or notice, attaching the decision and your request.
- If the body does not decide in time, you appeal for administrative silence and attach your request and proof that you submitted it.
- The Agency asks the body for its response within five days and decides within 30 days of a complete appeal, and the body must comply with its decision within eight days.
- If the body does not carry out the decision, on your motion the Agency issues an enforcement decision within three days and may compel it with a fine.
- Against the Agency's decision you bring an administrative dispute, which is handled as urgent.
- A body that, for example, does not issue a decision within 15 days commits an offence for which it is fined 500 to 20,000 euros as a legal entity.
A complaint about a public body to the ombudsman is covered in our guide to the Protector of Human Rights, and a lawyer paid by the state in our guide to free legal aid. Filing online with your ID card is covered in our guide to activating the electronic ID card, and access to your own medical record in our guide to patient rights.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to explain why I want the information? No, any domestic or foreign individual or legal entity has the right of access to information without giving reasons.
Within what deadline must the body answer my request? Within 15 days of a complete request at the latest, with a possible eight-day extension, and within 48 hours for the protection of life, health or the environment.
How much does access to information cost? No fee is charged, and when the body grants the request in full you pay no costs either, while in other cases you pay for copying, scanning and sending.
What if the body does not answer? You lodge an appeal for administrative silence with the Agency, attaching your request and proof that you submitted it.
Whom do I appeal a decision to? To the Agency for Personal Data Protection and Free Access to Information, within 15 days of receiving the decision.
Can I ask a public company for information? Yes, a company founded or majority-owned by the state or a municipality is also a public body.
Sources
The right of access, the body's duties, the request, deadlines, costs, refusal, appeals, enforcement and fines are set by the new Law on Free Access to Information (Official Gazette 160/25, Arts. 3, 4, 11, 14, 17, 21 to 25, 28, 30, 33 to 37, 39, 41, 42, 49, 51, 59, 61 and 64), published on the Agency's regulations page. The Agency publishes request and appeal forms on its forms page and guidance for citizens in its announcement on the new law, and the cost amounts are set by the Regulation on reimbursement of costs in access to information proceedings. The information was checked on 28 September 2026. Fijaka is a classifieds platform; this text is not legal advice.