You have the right to know: how to request information from any public institution in Romania

How much did the city hall spend on holiday lights? How many protection orders did the police in your county issue last year? What did the renovation of the school on your street cost? For all of these questions there is a simple, free and underused tool: a request under Law no. 544/2001 on free access to information of public interest.

Who has to answer

The law does not apply only to ministries and city halls. It covers any authority or institution that uses public money, State-owned utilities and companies where the State or a local authority is the sole or majority shareholder, public utility operators, and also political parties, sports federations and public-benefit NGOs that receive public funding.

Information of public interest means any information that concerns or results from the activity of a public institution, whatever its form: a contract, a report, a statistic, minutes of a meeting.

What a good request looks like

The law asks for only four things: the institution you are writing to, the information you want, described clearly enough to be identified, your full name and signature, and the address where you want the answer. That address can be an email. You do not have to say why you want the information or show a personal interest.

A few practical tips. Ask for documents or precise data, not opinions. Number your questions, so you can check what was answered and what was not. Ask for the answer in electronic form, which the law allows. Keep proof of sending and the registration number.

Sample wording. “Under Law no. 544/2001, please provide: 1. the number of emergency protection orders issued in Dolj County in 2025, broken down by month; 2. how many of them were confirmed by the prosecutor. Please send your answer electronically to the email address below.”

Deadlines

• 10 days from registration of the request, as a rule.
• 30 days at most, if the information is hard to find, but only if the institution tells you in writing within the first 10 days that it needs more time.
• 5 days for a refusal, which must give reasons.

If you ask for copies of documents, you may have to pay the copying costs. The information itself is free.

What you cannot get

The law excludes a few categories: classified information on defence and public order, other people's personal data, information from ongoing criminal or disciplinary investigations if disclosure would harm them, and certain protected commercial information. Exceptions are read narrowly. An institution cannot refuse a whole document just because part of it contains personal data; that part can be redacted.

If you get no answer

• Administrative complaint. You can complain to the head of the institution within 30 days of learning of the refusal. If the complaint is justified, you receive the information within 15 days.
• Court complaint. You can go directly to the administrative section of the county court where you live or where the institution is based, within 30 days of the response deadline expiring. No court fee is charged and the case is heard urgently. The court can order the institution to provide the information and to pay damages.

The administrative complaint is not a mandatory step before going to court under this procedure, but it is fast and often solves the problem.

Why it matters

The right to receive information is part of freedom of expression. Without it, journalists, NGOs and citizens cannot check whether the State keeps its own obligations, from conditions in hospitals to the protection of victims. Every well-written request makes the administration a little more transparent.

This guide explains the law in force on the date it was checked. It is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer on your own situation.