The aim:
1. A student knows a purpose and structure of access to public information laws (freedom of information/access to information laws) in the context of the main legal orders worldwide. He/she knows how to assess, execute and protect a right of access under various regimes; He/she knows the general rules and priciples goeverning data protection in EU and re-use of public sector information.

Acquired knowledge:
1. A student knows a purpose and structure of access to public information and data protection laws. He/she knows the general rules and priciples goeverning data protection in EU and re-use of public sector information.

Acquired skills:
1. A student knows how to analyze a right of access and a right to privacy laws under various regimes.

Acquired social skills:
1. A student knows how to execute and protect a right of access and a right to privacy laws under various regimes.

Course contents: 
1. Democracy and information. From freedom of the press to FOIA laws. What is a right (of access) to information? How does it fit into constitutional framework?Information, data and its impact on modern society. Secrecy, openness and information overload. Access to information in democratic and authoritarian regimes.
2. Constitutional clauses and its dynamic interpretation. Post war constitutions and the freedom of expression (Japan, Israel, India).
3. Right to information in international human rights law. American Convention on Human Rights and European Convention of Human Rights. Claude Reyes v. Chile and the scope of article 13 of the ACHR.
4. Article 10 of the ECHR and its dynamic interpretation. Freedom to receive an open ended issue : Guerra and Others v Italy. ECHR’s opinion of 19th Feb 1998. Case of Sdruženi Jihočeské Matky v. Czech Republic. Case of Társaság a Szabadságjogokért v. Hungary. What counts as a public interest? An applicant and his private/public agenda. Guseva v. Bulgaria (6987/07), Youth Initiative for Human Rights v. Serbia (48135/06).
5. Privacy in United States and Europe.
6. Rise and decline of freedom of information laws worldwide (part I). Structure of FOIA/ATI laws. General introduction. United States of America. Freedom of Information Act 1966. United Kingdom. Freedom of Information Act 2000.
7. Rise and decline of freedom of information laws worldwide (part II). A. Poland B. Czech Republic.
8. Oversight, accountability mechanisms and judicial review.
9. Data Protection in European Union. Outline of General Data Protection Regulation.
10. Re-use of public sector information in European Union. Big Data and the right to know.
11. Computational propaganda, disinformation and other threats in the age of social media.

Recommended reading: 
1. The Right of Access to Public Information. An International Comparative Legal Survey, Blanke, Hermann-Josef, Perlingeiro, Ricardo (Eds.), Spinger . 2018.
2. Freedom of Information. The Law, the Practice and the Ideal, Patrick Birkinshaw, Cambridge University Press . 2012.
3. Blackstone’s Guide to the Freedom of Information Act 2000, John Wadham (Author), Kelly Harris (Contributor), George Peretz (Contributor), Oxford University Press, USA. 2011.
4. Computational Propaganda: Political Parties, Politicians, and Political Manipulation on Social Media, Edited by Samuel C. Woolley , Edited by Philip N. Howard, Oxford University Press Inc . 2018.
5. The Constitutional Right to Information , Peled, Roy and Rabin, Yoram, Columbia Human Rights Law Review, Vol. 42, No. 2,. 2011.
6. THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO INFORMATION IN POLAND. THEORY AND PRACTICE, Michal Bernaczyk, International Comparative Jurisprudence. Vilnus 2019.
7. THE CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT TO INFORMATION IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC: THEORY AND PRACTICE, Marek Antoš, International Comparative Jurisprudence. Vilnus 2019.
8. The Right to Privacy, Samuel D. Warren; Louis D. Brandeis, Harvard Law Review, Vol. 4, No. 5. (Dec. 15, 1890). Harvard 1890.
9. Privacy, new technology and constitutional adjudication in the light of Antonin Scalia’s originalist interpretation W: Dookoła Wojtek… : księga pamiątkowa poświęcona Doktorowi Arturowi Wojciechowi Preisnerowi , Frąckowiak Magdalena, Bernaczyk Michał, Uniwersytet Wrocławski. E-Wydawnictwo. Wrocław 2018.
10. Privacy, Manuel José Cepeda Espinosa, Oxford University Press. The Oxford Handbook of Comparative Constitutional Law 2012.

Additional reading: 
1. Access to courts judgments in Common Courts’ Judgments Portal in: Legal innovation in Polish law, Michal Bernaczyk, CH Beck. Warszawa 2019.
2. Mass Media Law, , Don R. Pember, Clay Calvert, McGraw-Hill. 17th ed. 2011 (or newer).
3. U.S. Freedom of Information Act Statute, U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Department of Justice. https://www.foia.gov/foia-statute.html 2019.