Article 82. Requests for information

(1) For the purpose of exercising its duties, the Centre shall have the right to request and obtain free of charge, while ensuring the confidentiality of the information, from legal persons under public and private law and from natural persons, any necessary documents and information, including in digital format, which are accessible and may be relevant for the application of the law, and the confidentiality of criminal prosecution, banking secrecy, commercial secrecy, tax secrecy, medical secrecy, professional secrecy (except for the professional secrecy provided for in art. 55 of Law No. 1260/2002 on the Legal Profession), personal data and other information with limited access may not be invoked.

(2) The Centre shall request the necessary information in writing, shall indicate the legal basis and the purpose of the request for information and shall set a reasonable time limit, of at least 5 working days, within which the information is to be provided, also specifying the sanctions provided for by law.

(3) Requests for information shall be proportionate and shall not compel the person under investigation to admit to having committed an infringement. The person under investigation shall answer factual questions and provide documents, even if they may be used to establish, against that person or another person, the existence of an infringement.

(4) In the course of investigations, communications between the person under investigation and that person’s lawyer, made in the context of and for the sole purpose of exercising the right of defence of the person under investigation, which relate to the subject matter of the investigation, may not be used as evidence for establishing an infringement of the legislation on personal data protection. If the person under investigation does not prove the protected character of the communication, the communication shall be sealed and removed in two copies. The report of the on-site investigation shall set a time limit within which the person under investigation is to submit the evidence and explanations capable of demonstrating the protected character of the communication. The Director of the Centre shall decide, as a matter of urgency, on the protected character of the communication on the basis of the request and of the evidence and arguments submitted by the person under investigation. If the Director of the Centre rejects the request concerning the protected character of the communication, the document may be unsealed only after the expiry of the period within which the order may be challenged or, where the decision is challenged, after the court judgment has become irrevocable. The order of the Director of the Centre rejecting the request concerning the protected character of the communication may be challenged within 15 days of its communication, without following the preliminary procedure, in accordance with the provisions of the Administrative Code.