You have the right to demand access to public documents, journals and similar registers. All case documents in the municipality are public domain unless an exception has been made pursuant to the law. Even though a document may be exempted from public disclosure, the municipality shall nevertheless consider whether parts or the entire document shall be accessible. A document is not restricted to paper-based information, but in principal all information which has been stored. Nevertheless, you have the right of access only to databases where the content can be searched in a simple manner.
You may be denied the right of access to internal documents, but as a general rule you should nevertheless have the right of access to:
- Agendas or case documents related to the municipal council or another elected body
- Documents to/from the municipal control authorities, appeal board or municipal auditor
- Documents to/from entities in the administration that have independent decision-making powers in the matter to which the document relates.
If you demand the right of access to documents, this demand must relate to a specific matter, or what is reasonably considered to cover a specific subject.
The municipality may charge for print-outs, copies and for forwarding when this concerns more than 100 pages in a matter. A charge of NOK 1 may be made for each page over 100 and for the entire forwarding. Special charges apply to high quality copies.