Court cases
Since the adoption of the Access to Public Information Act, the lawyers of AIPF have initiated proceedings in cases when the right to access to information is being violated. Here you can view detailed information of some court appeals, related to the right to seek and receive information under APIA.
Some important cases in which Access to Information Programme has provided legal assistance, including representation in court, in 2007:
1. Two contracts for lobbying services signed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) in relation to Bulgaria’s accession to the European Union
Alexenia Dimitrova (24 Hours Newspaper) vs. the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
2. Contracts signed between the Ministry of Finance and Robin, Sheves, Lipkin-Shahak and Birger
Alexenia DImitrova (24 Hours Newspaper) vs. the Ministry of Finance
3.
Documents related to the competition procedure for licensing radio and TV operators in Bulgaria issued by the Council for Electronic Media
Bulgarian Media Coalition vs. the Council for Electronic Media
4.
Procedure of preparation and the draft of the National Long-term Program for Encouraging Usage of Renewable Energy Sources 2004 – 2015
Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds vs. Ministry of Economy and Energy
5. Amount of funds and their allocation among local and central media paid by the Municipality of Lovech for different announcements
Naroden Glas newspaper vs. the Municipality of Lovech
6.Procurement of two steel plated cars for the Ministry of Interior
William Popov vs. the Minister of Interior
7. Access to orders of the mayor of the Municipality of Nessebar
Genka Shikerova (bTV) vs. the Municipality of Nessebar
8. Information contained in the Urban Development Draft Plan and the Environmental Assessment Report of a ski center
The Environmental Association For the Earth vs. The Mayor of the Municipality of Sapareva Bania
9. Information regarding decisions and orders for lodging released from the housing department of the Ministry of Interior
Yordan Todorov (168 Hours newspaper) vs. the Minister of Interior
10. Annexes to a report regarding a Nuclear Power Plant Kozlodui accident
National Movement Ecoglasnost vs. the Nuclear Regulatory Agency
11. Contract with Microsoft Co for the procurement of software licenses necessary for the Bulgarian state administration
Rosen Bosev from Capital Weekly versus the Director of the Government Information Service
12. Names and positions of responsible persons to issue sanctions in the Social Support Agency
Centre of Independent Living vs. the Social Support Agency
13. Information about the drafting of a Regulation by the Ministry of Culture
Yurii Valkovski vs. the Ministry of Culture
Here are some important court cases where Access to Information Programme has provided legal assistance, including representation in court, in 2006:
1. Council of Ministers' decision(s) that delegated to the Minister of Finance the signing of contracts related to the payment of Iraqi debts to Bulgaria
Alexenia Dimitrova (24 Hours Newspaper) vs. the Council of Ministers
2. Documents from the First Bureau of the former State Security Services (SSS)
Bogdana Lazarova (Darik Radio) vs. The National Intelligence Services
3. Documents related to the restitution of forest lands in the Rila Mountains by the former prime minister, Mr. Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha
Trud Daily vs. the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
4. Information about the amount of money allocated for the landscaping of the Bankia District
The Bankia Civil Association vs. the Mayor of the Bankia District Administration - Municipality of Sofia
5. Access to information, related to the proposals for the Chief Prosecutor's resignition
Dimitar Dimitrov and Plamen Simeonov vs. The Chief Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Bulgaria
6. Information regarding a project financed through the ISPA programme of the EU
The Environmental Association For the Earth vs. The Ministry of Environment and Waters
7. Amount of money paid by a Municipality of Razgrad for an advertisement of Duma newspaper
Non-Governmental Organizations Center Razgrad vs. the Municipality of Razgrad
8. Waste management concession contract in the town of Razgrad
Non-Governmental Organizations Center Razgrad vs. the Municipality of Razgrad
9. Number, purpose, and duration of the official trips, as well as the expenses incurred by the Mayor of Razgrad
Non-Governmental Organizations Center Razgrad vs. the Municipality of Razgrad
10. Information about the members of the municipal council serving terms from 2003-2007
Non-Governmental Organizations Center Razgrad vs. the Municipality of Razgrad
11. Concession contract signed between the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works and Highway Trakia JSC
Silvya Yotova (Novinar Newspaper) vs. the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works
12. Documents from the Archive of the First Bureau (the Intelligence Office) of the former State Security Services from the period 1971-1979
Hristo Hristov vs. The National Intelligence Services
In the beginning of 2006 Access to
Information Programme published the third volume of Access to Information
Litigation in Bulgaria. Selected cases. The book is divided
into two parts - an analytical text, written by Alexander Kashumov and
Kiril Terziiski, and ten full court cases. The Bulgarian Access to Public
Information Act has not established an independent institution to overview
its implementation. In view of this situation, the court practice on
the implementation of the APIA becomes of great significance... Available:
(Acrobat PDF
2611Kb 
)
Here are some important court cases where Access to Information Programme has provided legal assistance, including representation in court, in 2005:
1. Public access to
the sessions of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC)
Vassil Chobanov vs. The Supreme Judicial Council
2. Access to public
information kept at the archives of the Ministry of Interior
Hristo Hristov vs. the Ministry of Interior
3. Copies of two audit
reports
Yurii Ivanov vs. the Public Internal Financial Control Agency
4. Contract between
the municipality of Vidin and a private company
Lyubov Guseva vs. the Municipality of Vidin I
5. Information related
to a public procurement procedure
Lyubov Guseva vs. the Municipality of Vidin II
6. Contract between the Ministry of
Finance and the British consultancy Crown Agents
Kiril Terziiski vs. the Ministry of Finance (Crown Agents contract)
II
7. Contract between
the State Reserves and a private company
Kiril Karaivanov vs. the State National and Wartime Reserves Agency
8. Access to property
declarations, stored in the public register of the National Audit Office
Diana Boncheva vs. the President of the National Audit Office
9. Access to personal
prison record of a deceased dissident
Todor Yanakiev vs. Director of the "Prison Governance" Department
of the Ministry of Justice
10. Access to all regulations,
related to public registers in the Municipality of Razgrad
Association “Center for NGOs in the town of Razgrad” vs. The Municipality
of Razgrad
11. Access to a Decree
of the Council of Ministers as of 1988, listing towns and villages,
in the region of the power plant Belene, to which access would be restricted
Center for Environmental Information and Education vs. The Council of
Ministers (CM)
12. Access to preliminary
research reports, application forms, and cost/benefit analyses of ISPA
financed projects
Environmental Association For the Earth vs. The Ministry of Finance
13. Access to operational
reports of the Prosecutor's Office for 2001, 2002, and 2003
Hristo Hristov (Dnevnik Newspaper) vs. The Supreme Judicial Council
14. Access to information
about the projects for regional development (so-called demonstration
projects)
Krasimir Krumov (Monitor Newspaper) vs. The Regional Governor of the
Town of Shoumen
15. Copy of the concession
contract signed between the Ministry of Regional development and Public
Works and Highway Trakia JSC
Silvya Yotova (Novinar Newspaper) vs. the Ministry of Regional development
and Public Works (MRDPW)
16. Report about Bulgarian
citizens and companies who were involved in oil trade with Iraqi companies
or their representatives during the Saddam regime
Zoya Dimitrova vs. the President
17. Access to the whole content of the contract signed with Microsoft for the supply of 30,000 software packages for the needs of the Bulgarian public administration
Access to Information Programme, Stoicho Katsarov and Ivan Ivanov vs. the Minister of Public Administration
Summary of the most important court
cases for 2004 in which Access to Information Programme has provided
legal assistance, including representation in court. Available:
PDF (227Kb)
| Press releases by AIP on September 28, 2004- the International Right to Know Day |
|
|
| Bulgarian Access to Information Litigation 2003 |
|
Available: PDF
(78Kb) HTML: 1. Access to community center
expenses and verbatim records 2. Access to information
about the work and budget of a municipal animal shelter 3. Access to a
contract between a municipality and a private company 4. Access to information
about the work of the Regional health center 5. Access to audit
reports 7. Access to own
personal records 8. Access to financial
reports and bank deposits of the National Health Insurance Fund 9. Access to audit
reports 10. Access to
minutes from council of ministers sessions 11. Access to
a contract between the Minister of Education and a private company 12. Access to
a licensing agreementd and contract terms between the Bulgarian
Government and Microsoft 13. Access to
a contract between the Bulgarian Government and a Crown Agents 14. Access to
former state security files 15. Access to
a government regulation from 1980 regulating the proceedings for
keeping state secrets 16. Access to
the report on the use of intercepts 17. Access to
information about planned highway construction 18. Access to
information about destroying the obsolete missiles of the Bulgarian
army |
Sofia Regional Court, Criminal Division, 1st Panel adjudges that the defendant Yavor Dachkov in the program "Voices" broadcast on 20.02.2000 on Channel 1 of BNT from 18:00, publicly, through the media /television/ with the expression "patron of the robbing of Bulgaria" did not humiliate the honor and dignity of Liuben Borisov Berov in his capacity of an official in the performance of his official duties - Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria.
Available:
HTML 
Dimitar Chavdarov Totev, a lawyer working for a consulting company, submitted an application for obtaining access to information, requesting a copy of the letter by the Chief Tax Director (CTD) with interpretation of provisions of the Tax Procedure Code (TPC). The letter was issued in reply to questions raised by an individual or a legal entity, and Mr. Totev learned about its contents from the local Black Sea newspaper. More..
In the beginning of September the Bulgarian Helsinki Watch Committee Association (through Mr. Krassimir Kunev) served an application in writing, which had been prepared by the AIP lawyers, to the Chief Prosecutor's Office pursuant to Art. 24, para 3 in conjunction with para 1 of APIA with the request to obtain information about the number of reports and complaints of ethnic discrimination that the prosecutor's offices had registered over the renet years (were there any reports and complaints at all, how many, which ethnic groups and what measures were undertaken by the prosecutor's office). More..
Polina Kireva, representative of For the Earth Environmentalist Association, wanted to obtain a copy of the minutes from a meeting of the Supreme Environmental Expert Board (SEEB) at the Ministry of Environment and Water (MEW). On 13 July 2000, after consultations with the AIP team, Ms Polina Kireva served an application for obtaining a copy of the minutes from the SEEB meeting (held on 19 June 2000) to the Minister of Environment and Water. More..
Kiril Karaivanov served an application in writing on 8 December 2000, requesting a copy of the minutes from a meeting of the Liquidation and Bankruptcy Commission (LBC) at the Ministry of Economic Affairs, as well as two other documents (Order ¹ ÐÄ-26-111 of 4 August 2000 of the Minister of Economic Affairs and an Insolvency Petition served by the Managing Director of a privatised single-member limited liability company) from the same Ministry. More..
On 6 November 2000, Kalin Yossifov (representative of a group of heirs to farmland) served an application in writing, requesting copies of documents related to farmland users (lists by numbers of certificates and transcripts from alphabetical lists) from the Mayor of the Municipality of Montana. On 27 November 2000, the Mayor (having decided that the provisions of Art. 31, para 2 of APIA were applicable) informed Mr. Yossifov that he had sent notices to the farmland users, requesting the explicit consent in writing of those "third parties" concerned with the granting of access to information. Two users of that property refused to agree with the granting of access to the request photocopies. More..
On 11 September 2000, the Centre for Independent Life Association served an application to the Minister of Labour and Social Policy, requesting a copy of the Personal Social Worker Programme. On 12 January 2001, CILA re-applied for access to that information, making explicit reference to APIA. The time limits prescribed by law for response expired on 26 January 2001 and an appeal was served to SAC. More..
Balkans - Wildlife Association served three applications in writing to the Executive Director of the Roads Executive Agency at the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works on 23 January 2000, 24 January 2000 and 22 February 2000. The NGO requested to be granted access to information related to the design of Strouma Highway kept by the Roads Executive Agency (copies of EIA reports and related letters and documents, answers of the Ministry, minutes from meetings between presenters and representatives of the Ministry). More..
On 23 February 2001, the Institute for Market Economy Foundation served an application in writing (pursuant to Art. 24, para 1 of APIA) to the Director of the National Health Insurance Fund to grant access to the budgets and reports of regional health insurance funds for 2000 (copies), the bank selected by NHIF to operate with its resources, the procedure for selection of the bank, and the amount of deposits of NHIF. More..
On 28 February 2000, the Access to Information Programme Foundation served an application in writing to the Ministry of Education and Science for obtaining access to copies of the instruments related to the teaching of the optional school subjects Religion - Islam and Religion - Christianity, as enumerated in the application. More..
On 20 March 2001, Jordan Stamenov Lazov served an application in writing to the Ministry of Environment and Water to grant access to copies of statements of findings and penalty statements issued in the course of administrative penalty procedures against a municipal company in Dupnitsa. Other documents were also requested. More..
On 23 May 2001, the Institute for
National Studies Association served an application in writing to the
Chairperson of the Central Elections Committee, requesting access
to information related to the computer processing of the data from the
parliamentary elections held from 1991 to 2001, as specified in five
items. More..
In March 2001, Mr. Yuri Ivanov, Chairman of the
Public Barometer Association served an application in writing to the
State Internal Financial Control Agency to obtain access to copies
of two audit statements on the findings of the audits at the College
and Engineering Teaching Faculty at the Technical University, Sofia
in 1999. More..
On 21 May 2001, Mr. Karaivanov served an application in writing to obtain access to a copy of an audit statement of a single-member limited liability company to the Minister of Finance. After he received notice in writing (19 December 2000) with a refusal to grant him access to the requested copy of the audit statement, Mr. Karaivanov appealed. The application was served to the Minister of Finance, while the refusal was signed by the Director of the State Internal Financial Control Agency. The appeal was served to SAC. The case was heard at 2 p.m. on 13 November 2001. More..
On 8 December 2000, Mr. Karaivanov served an application in writing to the Minister of Economy, requesting access to copies of minutes of the Liquidation and Bankruptcy Commission at the Ministry of Economy and two other documents. Mr. Karaivanov appealed against a partial refusal tp grant him access to copies of loan security agreements. The information was requested from the Minister of Economic Affairs and it was partially granted by a Deputy Minister. The appeal was served to SAC on 2 July 2001. Admninistrative Case No. 6242/01 of the 5th Division of SAC. The case was heard at 2 p.m. on 13 November 2001. The judgement is expected. More..
On 4 July 2001, Milko Nikolov Boyadjiev servced an application to the Chief Architect of Sofia to grant access to the master plans and detailed schemes for placing movable equipment within the territory of Sofia. After consultation with AIP, Mr. Boyadjiev appealed against the implied refusal by the Chief Architect. The appeal was drawn up on 24 July 2001 and served through the Chief Architect of Sofia. More..
On 31 July 2001, Mr. Alexei Lazarov (journalist from The Capital Weekly) served an application in writing for access to information in the form of a copy of the verbatim report from a meeting of the Council of Ministers. The application was served to the Director of the Information and Public Relations Department of the Council of Ministers. More..
The Regional Nature Conservation Centre Association Talking on Friendly Terms to Nature served four applications on 7 August 2001 to the City of Sofia, requesting access to information about the programme for reduction of the number of stray dogs, the privatisation of the stray dogs centre in the vilage of Mirovyane, the contract between the City of Sofia and a private company for the reduction of the number of stray dogs at that centre, and the decision of the City Council on granting subsidies for free-of-charge castration of stray dogs. None of them was answered within the time limits prescribed by law. More..
On 7 May 2001, Ecoglasnost National Movement, Montana Chapter (regional informal subdivision of Ecoglasnost National Association) served an application through its representative Petar Penchev for obtaining access to the statements on the measurements of noise penetration in a building located in Montana. More..
The Regional Martial Prosecutor's Office in Haskovo brough preliminary hearing for an offence under Art. 360 of the Criminal Code, disclosure of a secret provided by law, an instrument of the Council of Ministers or another instruction. The spokesperson of the Regional Directorate of the Ministry of Interior in Kurdjali Nina Stefanova is likely to be prosecuted for having disclosed information at a news conference on 28 August 2001, which, according to the Prosecutor's Office, constituted investigation secret. She was interrogated as a witness on 31 October 2001.
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English Version • Last Update: 12.12.2007 • © 1999 Copyright by Interia & AIP