How to request public information and receive a response

When this guide is useful

A public in­for­ma­tion request is ap­pro­pri­ate when you need a copy of an ex­ist­ing de­ci­sion, es­ti­mate, con­tract, list, report, minutes, or other record­ed data held by an in­for­ma­tion holder. For example, a res­i­dent of Lviv region may request a de­ci­sion on funding works, at­tach­ments to a local program, or a doc­u­ment on which an au­thor­i­ty based a par­tic­u­lar action. You do not have to prove a per­son­al in­ter­est to access open in­for­ma­tion.

This pro­ce­dure does not require an au­thor­i­ty to create a new cal­cu­la­tion, conduct legal analy­sis, or explain motives that are not record­ed in ex­ist­ing doc­u­ments. If your goal is to com­plain about in­ac­tion, obtain repairs, in­ves­ti­gate an of­fi­cial, or get an in­di­vid­ual de­ci­sion, you may need to file a citizen appeal or use a special pro­ce­dure. If you need both a doc­u­ment and action, it is usually more prac­ti­cal to submit two sep­a­rate texts with dif­fer­ent re­quests.

In Lviv, iden­ti­fy not only the level of gov­ern­ment but also who ac­tu­al­ly holds the in­for­ma­tion. A doc­u­ment may be kept by a city council ex­ec­u­tive body, dis­trict ad­min­is­tra­tion, mu­nic­i­pal in­sti­tu­tion, re­gion­al mil­i­tary ad­min­is­tra­tion, or another in­for­ma­tion holder. Check the current struc­ture and of­fi­cial sub­mis­sion channel on the rel­e­vant in­sti­tu­tion’s website im­me­di­ate­ly before sending the request.

Applicable period and rules

The general re­sponse period is no later than five working days from the date the request is re­ceived. For cal­en­dar track­ing, exclude the con­firmed receipt date and start count­ing the next day. Use the re­sponse dead­line cal­cu­la­tor to see the orig­i­nal dead­line and dis­tin­guish it from an ex­ten­sion.

If a request covers a large volume of in­for­ma­tion or re­quires search­ing through a sig­nif­i­cant number of records, the in­for­ma­tion holder may extend the period to a total of 20 working days. This is not “another 20” after the first five. The re­quester must be no­ti­fied of the ex­ten­sion and its reason within the orig­i­nal five working days. A formal ref­er­ence to work­load, without a con­nec­tion to the scope of the spe­cif­ic request, is not enough for a mean­ing­ful review.

A 48-hour re­sponse is an ex­cep­tion. It applies to in­for­ma­tion needed to protect life or liberty, the state of the en­vi­ron­ment, the quality of food and house­hold goods, ac­ci­dents, dis­as­ters, dan­ger­ous natural events, and other emer­gen­cies that threat­en public safety. The request must explain how the in­for­ma­tion relates to the rel­e­vant threat. If the time of receipt is con­firmed, the cal­cu­la­tor adds exactly 48 con­tin­u­ous hours, not two working days.

Steps to take

First, state in one sen­tence what you need: which doc­u­ment or data. Add search details such as an ap­prox­i­mate date, de­ci­sion number, program name, prop­er­ty address, period, con­tract party, or de­part­ment. Do not turn the request into a ques­tion­naire with dozens of eval­u­a­tive “why” or “who is re­spon­si­ble” ques­tions if an­swer­ing them would require new analy­sis.

Then iden­ti­fy the proper in­for­ma­tion holder. For local in­for­ma­tion in Lviv, do not assume that every doc­u­ment is kept by the central City Council office. Match the subject to the powers of the rel­e­vant ex­ec­u­tive body or in­sti­tu­tion. For matters outside the city, sep­a­rate­ly check the hromada, dis­trict, or re­gion­al level. Do not copy un­ver­i­fied email ad­dress­es from third-party di­rec­to­ries.

Provide the re­quester’s name or or­ga­ni­za­tion, postal or email address or another contact method, and pre­ferred re­sponse format. For a request sub­mit­ted on paper, add the date and sig­na­ture. If you want elec­tron­ic copies, specify the format and do not ask for paper cer­ti­fi­ca­tion unless it serves a prac­ti­cal purpose.

Submit the request through a current of­fi­cial channel and keep proof of receipt. For email, a message in the “Sent” folder may not be enough: keep an au­to­mat­ic con­fir­ma­tion, reg­is­tra­tion notice, or reply from the records office. If the request is for­ward­ed, record when the proper in­for­ma­tion holder re­ceived it; that date starts the new dead­line cal­cu­la­tion.

What to check before submitting

Read each item and ask whether the answer may already exist in a doc­u­ment or data­base. “Provide a copy of the de­ci­sion and at­tach­ments” is a clear in­for­ma­tion request. “Explain why you made an unfair de­ci­sion and cancel it” asks for an as­sess­ment and action that require a dif­fer­ent pro­ce­dure. For a com­plaint about an au­thor­i­ty’s de­ci­sion, sep­a­rate­ly review the pro­ce­dure for filing an ad­min­is­tra­tive court claim and the short pro­ce­dur­al dead­lines.

Check the scope. If you need every doc­u­ment from several years, narrow the period, doc­u­ment type, or subject. This reduces the risk of a jus­ti­fied ex­ten­sion and helps you get a useful re­sponse. If the in­for­ma­tion may include per­son­al data or other re­strict­ed ma­te­r­i­al, ask for the open part with pro­tect­ed pas­sages redact­ed instead of re­fus­ing the whole doc­u­ment.

For an urgent request, add a short sep­a­rate para­graph with the facts: what spe­cif­ic threat exists, whom it affects, why the in­for­ma­tion is needed now, and which Article 20 cri­te­ri­on applies. Per­son­al con­ve­nience, a court hearing, or an in­ter­nal dead­line does not au­to­mat­i­cal­ly create a 48-hour re­sponse period.

When to consult a lawyer

Legal help is ap­pro­pri­ate if the in­for­ma­tion holder has not re­spond­ed, sent a generic form letter, with­held an entire doc­u­ment because one part is re­strict­ed, ex­tend­ed the dead­line without jus­ti­fi­ca­tion, or re­peat­ed­ly for­ward­ed the request between in­sti­tu­tions. Before ap­peal­ing, as­sem­ble one chain of ev­i­dence: the request, proof and time of receipt, notices of for­ward­ing or ex­ten­sion, the re­sponse, and tech­ni­cal details showing when it was sent.

For a re­quester in Lviv or a com­mu­ni­ty in the region, a lawyer can help dis­tin­guish city, re­gion­al, and state in­for­ma­tion holders, narrow the request without losing im­por­tant data, and choose a pro­por­tion­ate appeal. If the same dispute re­quires not only a doc­u­ment but also can­cel­la­tion of a de­ci­sion or a finding of in­ac­tion, co­or­di­nate the in­for­ma­tion request with a sep­a­rate ad­min­is­tra­tive or other pro­ce­dur­al step.