Civic Access

Right of access under art. 5 of Italian Leg. Decree No. 33/2013 as amended by Leg. Decree No 97/2016.

Simple Civic Access

Art. 5 (1) of Italian Leg. Decree No. 33/2013 grants the right of anyone to request documents, information or data whose publication has been omitted.

The right may be exercised free of charge, without any obligation to state reasons, and is not subject to any limitation as to the subjective legitimacy of the applicant.

It should be noted that simple civic access remains limited to acts, documents and information subject to mandatory publication and constitutes a remedy for non-compliance with legal provisions.

Requests for simple civic access should be addressed electronically to the University's Head of Corruption Prevention and Transparency, Ms. Elisabetta De Toma (e-mail e.detoma@unibo.it, tel. +39 051 2099101; certified email scriviunibo@pec.unibo.it) with an indication of the data, documents or information subject to mandatory publication that have not, in fact, been published.

Having verified the request, the Head of Corruption Prevention and Transparency will see to the publication of the missing documents, information or data within thirty days, notifying the applicant of their publication and providing the applicable hyperlink.

In the event of inaction, delay or failure to communicate, the applicant may address the request to the Director General of the University, Mr. Sabrina Luccarini, as holder of substitutive powers, by sending an electronic request (e-mail dg@unibo.it, tel. +39 051 2099934) stating the data, documents or information subject to mandatory publication that have not, in fact, been published.

In the event of inaction on the part of the Head of Corruption Prevention or of the holder of substitutive powers, in order to protect his or her right the applicant may appeal to the Regional Administrative Court pursuant to art. 116 of the Italian Code of Administrative Procedure (Leg. Decree no. 104/2010).

For further information, please contact the Head of the Specialist Transparency Unit, Ms. Antonella Mazza (tel. +39 051 2088597), or send an e-mail to unibo.trasparenza@unibo.it.

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General Civic Access (so-called Foia)

Art. 5(2) of Italian Leg. Decree No. 33/2013 sets forth the right of anyone to request documents, information or data, held by public administrations, in addition to those subject to mandatory publication, in compliance with the limits relating to the protection of legally significant public and private interests expressly indicated by law.

The right to general civic access, also known as FOIA (Freedom of Information Act), was introduced by Italian Leg. Decree No. 97/2016, which amended Leg. Decree No. 33/2013 and has been operational since 23 December 2016.

With the introduction of general civic access, the system wishes to encourage widespread forms of control over the pursuit of institutional functions and the use of public resources and to promote participation in the public debate in compliance with the limits relating to the protection of legally significant public and private interests (e.g. security, defence, privacy, intellectual property, etc.) provided for by law (article 5-bis of Italian Leg. Decree No. 33/2013) and by the ANAC Guidelines (Resolution No. 1309 of 28 December 2016 “Guidelines containing operational indications for the purposes of defining exclusions and limitations to civic access under art.5(2) of Italian Leg. Decree 33/2013”).

The form for general civic access, to be filled in and signed, is available among the downloadable documents.

Said form highlights the data, information or documents requested, does not require the applicant to state reasons, and may be submitted to one of the following offices:

  1. the office that holds the data, information or documents;
  2. the Public Relations Office;
  3. the Professional Unit “Civic Access and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)” (e-mail accessocivicogeneralizzato@unibo.it).

The request may be sent by ordinary mail or electronically to the University's certified e-mail address (scriviunibo@pec.unibo.it) or to the institutional e-mail addresses of the offices listed above, and must be signed by hand, attaching a copy of an identity document, unless it is signed digitally.

If the University identifies any possible objectors within the meaning of article 5-bis(2) of Italian Leg. Decree no. 33/2013, it is required to notify them. Within ten days of receiving said notice, the objectors may submit a reasoned opposition to the request for general civic access (a form for objectors, to be filled in and signed, is available among the downloadable documents). Starting from the notification to the objectors, the 30-day time limit for adopting the measure is suspended until any opposition by the objectors. After this period has expired, the University shall proceed with the request, having ascertained receipt of the notification. If the request for general civic access is granted, notwithstanding the opposition of the objector, without prejudice to proven cases where postponement is not possible, the University notifies the latter and transmits the requested data or documents to the applicant no earlier than fifteen days after receipt of the notification by the objector.

In cases of total or partial denial of general civic access or failure to reply within thirty days, the applicant, or the objector in cases where the request for access is granted despite his/her opposition, may submit a review request to the Head of Corruption Prevention and Transparency, Ms. Elisabetta De Toma, who shall issue a reasoned decision within twenty days. The forms to submit a review request, to be filled in and signed by the applicant and the objector, are available among the downloadable documents.

The request may be sent by ordinary mail or electronically to the University's certified e-mail address (scriviunibo@pec.unibo.it) or to the e-mail addresses of the University's Head of Corruption Prevention and Transparency (e.detoma@unibo.it), and must be signed by hand, attaching a copy of an identity document, unless it is signed digitally.

The applicant may lodge an appeal against the decision of the University or, in the event of a review request, against that of the Head of the Prevention of Corruption and Transparency at the Regional Administrative Court pursuant to Article 116 of the Italian Code of Administrative Procedure (Leg. Decree no. 104/2010).

For further information, please contact the Professional Unit “Civic Access and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA)”, Ms. Luisa Finotto (tel. + 39 051 2088596) or send an e-mail to accessocivicogeneralizzato@unibo.it

Access Register

The Access Register provided for in the A.N.A.C. FOIA Guidelines. (Resolution 1309/2016), which is updated every six months, contains the list of access requests submitted to the University, with the subject, date, outcome and date of the decision, and is published obscuring any personal data that may be present.

Applicable regulations:

  • Italian Leg. Decree No. 33/2013, as amended by Leg. Decree No. 97/2016
  • A.N.A.C. FOIA Guidelines (Resolution no. 1309 of 28/12/2016 “Guidelines containing operational indications for the purposes of defining exclusions and limitations to civic access under art.5(2) of Italian Leg. Decree 33/2013”)
  • Circular of the Department of Public Function No. 2/2017 “Implementation of the rules on general civic access (so-called FOIA)”  
  • Circular of the Department of Public Function No. 1/2019 “Implementation of the rules on general civic access (so-called FOIA)”

Downloadable contents