Ljubljana, 2 April (STA) - The Constitutional Court has invalidated a provision of the 2006 archives law that required health providers to submit all documents, including health records, to the National Archives. It argued this constituted encroachment on the right to privacy.
In a decision released on Wednesday following a petition by the Human Rights Ombudsman, the court held the archives law cannot apply to documents such as health records.
The very keeping of sensitive personal health records in public archives with the intent of making them accessible constitutes infringement of the right to privacy and the right to personal dignity.
Data in health records reveal information about patients' private lives and their disclosure risks undermining the personal dignity of the individuals as well as their relatives, the court argued.
In an accompanying press release, Constitutional Court president Miroslav Mozetič said such data needed to be afforded special protection.
The court declared article 40 of the archives law unconstitutional insofar as it refers to health providers. It has suspended its implementation and ordered the legislator to make amends within a year.
The ruling has nothing to do with the upcoming referendum on the archives law, which revolves around the accessibility of Yugoslav-era files kept by the secret police and other para-state institutions.
