The impact of national registers on the legal situation of citizens and other entities in a democratic state

Aleksandra Lisak, Anna Rozendaal et Kinga Włodarczyk
Doctorantes à Institute of Law Studies Polish Academy of Sciences
Les registres publics constituent l’un des éléments essentiels d’un État démocratique efficace et fonctionnel. Ils permettent l’accomplissement de tâches publiques ainsi que la participation des citoyens à la vie publique et privée. Il apparaît crucial de les créer et de les gérer correctement, ce qui ne manque pas de poser des problèmes techniques et organisationnels. L’article vise à souligner l’accès des citoyens aux registres publics comme une manifestation d’un État de droit démocratique. Pour illustrer pleinement cette question, le texte examine trois registres polonais : le Registre National des Tribunaux, le Registre National de la Criminalité, le Registre National des Endettés. Chaque chapitre aborde les registres indiqués relativement à leur fonctionnement, à leurs avantages, à leurs inconvénients et à l’impact de leur numérisation sur la vie publique des citoyens. La conclusion de l’article est telle que l’accès des citoyens à l’information est une valeur particulière d’un État de droit démocratique. In recent years, the Polish system has been striving to fully digitize public administration and e-services. A manifestation of the above is the digitization of public registers. Some of the most popular public registers are the National Register of Debtors, the National Criminal Register and the National Court Register. It should be noted that selected registers have the greatest impact on the lives of citizens. The role that registers1 play in the lives of citizens is very large. Public registers are institutions that make possible to build harmony in society between civil liberties, the transparency of social life and the protection of the collective interests of citizens and legal certainty. The new technologies and systems being implemented increasingly meet the needs of citizens. Access to information, citizens’ legal awareness and legal certainty are particularly important values. There are certainly some negative aspects to how registries work as well. However, in general, the positive aspects of the existence of registers in the lives of citizens are incomparably greater.
Public registers are principal element of the state’s information resources. Due to them, it is possible to conduct public tasks and ensure the efficient performance of tasks in public administration. Registers are intended to ensure security and certainty of legal transactions. At the same time, they guarantee freedom of social and economic activity of citizens and transparency of certain legal relations. Therefore, they play a key role in society. Their creation and management are an important legal issue as well as a technical and organizational problem. A public register is a form of records used to perform public tasks, kept by a public body based on separate statutory provisions. Such definition is presented in article 3 point 5 of the a.c.a.p.p.t. This is the only legal definition specifying the features that a public register should have. Of course, it should be remembered that it was formulated for the purposes of this Act and cannot constitute a universal formula establishing the concept of a public register in general. However, not every register will be a public register. It is indicated that the public register should meet certain conditions.
Firstly, public register must be created based on legal provisions, or the legal provisions at least provide for its creation. Specific regulations provide for its creation, competences, formal and legal rules of operation. The legality of the register is usually also the principle of adopting the officiality, which means that registers strictly define what documents are submitted to the register and what legal form they should have. Secondly, a public register is kept by a public registration body. It can be state authority or a local government body, established in accordance with the provisions of the constitution and other laws. L’avis du Comité scientifique

The authors of the article set out to show how much the digitization of government registers affects the lives and functioning of citizens in the state and society. They analyzed three popular national registers: the National Court Register, the National Criminal Register and the National Register of Debtors. They pointed out that citizens’ access to information through access to registers is a particular value of a modern democratic state. They drew attention to a number of benefits resulting from the digitization of public administration tasks. At the same time, they pointed out the risks associated with the use of modern technologies for the disclosure of data in the registers. This fact plays an important role in assessing the realization of fundamental rights and freedoms of a citizen.

Katarzyna KUBUJ

Professeure à l’Institut des Sciences juridiques de l’Académie polonaise des sciences

Thirdly, acceptance, recording and disclosure of the information and data specified therein generally takes place by way of a decision. This decision relates to specific facts or persons disclosed in the register. Fourthly, maintaining and disclosing the data contained legal consequences, both for the person and the authority. Fifth, it is public. This means that the registration authority, at least the persons concerned by the register have access to it.

If a register kept by a public body does not meet these conditions, it is not a public register. Moreover, a public body maintaining a public register is obliged to fulfil several obligations.

 

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