In a decision released on Monday, the information commissioner said the disclosure on the public funds tracking site Supervizor was not illegal, because it concerned data governed by the freedom of information act.

However, the information commissioner established some flaws in the gathering of data on the recipients' transaction accounts, which had however been been addressed while the inspection procedure was ongoing.

It said the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption followed the goal of transparency in the public sector in releasing the data on more than EUR 1bn paid to individuals for contractual work since 2003.

The commissioner also found that the anti-graft watchdog had acted proportionately as it only released personal data that fall under the freedom information act and only payments exceeding EUR 150,000 in a decade.

But the legal basis for the gathering of data on the accounts of recipients of fees had not been established until 4 March 2015 so data can only go ten years back, which has now been adjusted.

The commissioner suspects though that the watchdog may have acquired from the Public Payments Administration data on payments that do not fall under the freedom of information act, so it has launched a new inspection procedure.

The commissioner in addition found that an unauthorised outside expert had handled personal data for the watchdog, another flaw that was addressed during the inspection procedure.

The University in Ljubljana, whose professors are among the top earners, responded by saying that the information commissioner's decision was inconsistent.

According to the commissioner, the anti-graft body has obtained the data it released illegally, and "illegally obtained data cannot be published legally", it said.

The university is also bothered by the Commission for the Prevention of Corruption publishing data on individuals who are being subject to an investigation.

The university believes irreparable damage has been caused to individuals with the publishing of data on their earnings and expects criminal charges to be filed against the commission.

The data released in March exposed the then Education, Science and Sport Minister Stanka Setnikar Cankar as the second biggest earner.

She then resigned with data showing she made EUR 636,000 on the side since 2003 through contractual work for the Faculty of Administration, where she was a tenured professor and three-term dean.

The revised version of the list, released today, puts Setnikar Cankar in fourth place with EUR 472,000 in earnings, while an official translator remains on top with some EUR 639,000.

Most of the other data from the application remain unchanged, according to the anti-graft body. The list will be upgraded regularly.