on the protection of classified information and security clearance, as amended

The amendment to Act No 412/2005 on the protection of classified information and security capacity, as amended, which was approved by the Parliament of the Czech Republic and signed by the President of the Republic on 11 August 2011, will enter into force on 1 January 2012. In the area of industrial security, the amendment to the Act will bring a number of changes, the purpose of which is to reduce the administrative burden on participants in security proceedings and holders of business certificates and to speed up security proceedings.

Security procedures shall no longer be carried out in respect of an entrepreneur who will need access to restricted classified information. Entrepreneurs will now have access to classified information of this classification level on the basis of a declaration that they are able to ensure the protection of classified information, which they will pass on to the person who will provide them with classified information. At the same time, the Provider will be entitled to require the Entrepreneur to submit his/her security documentation and it will be only at his/her discretion and responsibility to make the classified information available to the Entrepreneur.

The National Security Authority will only exercise state supervision in this area, i.e. check that the conditions laid down for access to classified information classified at the level reserved are complied with and that the protection of such classified information is actually secured by the entrepreneur (and the provider).

In connection with this change, all security proceedings relating to an application for the issue of an Entrepreneur Certificate for the Reserved classification level, which have not yet been finalised, will be discontinued on the date of entry into force of the amendment to the Act.

The Entrepreneur Certificate for the level of classification Reserved, which was issued before the entry into force of the amendment to the Act, will be considered for a period of three months after the entry into force of the amendment, i.e. until 31 March 2012, as a declaration of the Entrepreneur under the amendment to the Act, with the understanding that after the expiry of this transitional period the Entrepreneur will either issue his own declaration of the Entrepreneur or terminate access to this classified information.

In the context of the security procedure in relation to an entrepreneur who will need access to classified information of a higher classification level than the Reserved, the administrative burden on the parties to the proceedings will be reduced, as the data that the applicant fills in in the entrepreneur's questionnaire will be significantly reduced and at the same time the number of documents submitted by the entrepreneur to verify compliance with the conditions for issuing the entrepreneur's certificate will be reduced. Combining the reduction of the above data and documents required from applicants and the shortening of the deadlines in the procedure for issuing the entrepreneur's certificate will speed up the security procedure. The amendment also foresees a reduction in the administrative burden for holders of the entrepreneur's certificate and participants in the security proceedings in connection with a completely new regulation of the notification of changes to the data contained in the entrepreneur's application during the security proceedings or after the issuance of the entrepreneur's certificate, the details of which are laid down in the implementing legislation.

The entrepreneur's application for the issue of the entrepreneur's certificate will be newly charged, namely:

  • an application for the issue of a certificate of the entrepreneur in the event that classified information is not generated or provided to him, but to which employees of the entrepreneur or a person acting on behalf of the entrepreneur or on behalf of the entrepreneur have access, in connection with the performance of work or other activities for the entrepreneur on the basis of a contract, amounting to CZK 5,000;
  • the entrepreneur's request for the issue of the entrepreneur's certificate in the event that the classified information arises from him or is provided to him, amounting to CZK 10 000.

The interdepartmental consultation procedure on the draft decree on industrial safety issued to implement the relevant provisions of the Act has been ongoing since 17. 8. 2011 to 7. 9. 2011. The draft decree is publicly available on the website of the National Security Authority and can be commented on by the public as part of the ongoing consultation procedure.

The National Security Authority was acquainted with the fact that the holders of the entrepreneur's certificate are currently approached by communications from private law entities offering assistance in the application of the amendment to the Act. The National Security Authority does not coordinate this activity and distances itself from it.

In this regard, the NSA points out that, unlike any entity, it is the only authority authorised to provide an authentic interpretation of the Act on the Protection of Classified Information and on Security Capability. For this reason, holders of an entrepreneur’s certificate, as well as entrepreneurs who wish to submit an application for the issue of an entrepreneur’s certificate, may: in case of any ambiguity with the application of the amendment in question, contact the National Security Office directly (this mainly concerns e-mail addresses This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and telephone numbers 257 283 258, 257 283 153). The National Security Authority is ready to provide consultations not only on the new provisions of the law, free of charge.

On the issue of the amendment to the Act, the National Security Office is preparing training for entrepreneurs and security directors of public authorities, which will be implemented before its entry into force (assumption month October-November 2011). Specific dates and information for this training will be published well in advance on the website of the National Security Authority.