Litigation on access to information in Bulgaria 2009 – trends and conclusions. During 2009 a large number of lawsuits for access to information were brought with the AIP legal support. As in previous years some court battles have been successful, others have been lost. Some, such as the story related to the contract between the Bulgarian administration and Microsoft have been again postponed. The rich case law allows us to draw some conclusions and trends in the court practice.
Some strategic court cases in which Access to Information Programme has provided legal assistance, including representation in court, in 2009:
1.Information about the allocation of money for official publications in central and local media
Naroden Glasnewspaper vs. the Municipal Council of Lovech
2.Access to information about the repair works in the Prime Minister's office
Pavlina Trifonova (24 Hours daily) vs. the Government Information Service
3.Contract with Microsoft Co for the procurement of software licenses necessary for the Bulgarian state administration
Rosen Bosev (Capital weekly) vs. the Government Information Service
4.Information relating to the project Waste Management of Sofia Municipality, financed by the Operational Programme “Environment” 2007-2013
Ivailo Hlebarov (Environmental Association For the Earth) vs. the Sofia Municipality
5.Information about the jurors sitting in the Regional Court Sofia
Krum Blagov (Standard daily) vs. Regional Court Sofia
6.A copy of the legal analysis on the performance of the concession contract between the Sofia Municipality and Sofia Water JSC
National Committee for Improvement of Water Supply in Bulgaria vs. Sofia Municipality
7. Contract between the municipality and the Regional Police Directorate
Nikolay Tsvetkov vs. the Municipality of Varna
8.The list of consultants who provided advice for drafting two draft bills introduced in the National Assembly
Rosen Bosev vs. the National Assembly
9.The first page of tax returns submitted to the National Revenue Agency - Razgrad by an association
Association Non-Governmental Organizations Center Razgrad vs. the National Revenue Agency – Razgrad
10. Information related to an external assessment of the work of NGOs financed by the Program Prevention and monitoring of HIV/AIDS.
Foundation Hope Against AIDS vs. the Ministry of Health
11. A copy of the approved and applicable business plan of the “Water Supply and Sanitation” Ltd Sliven
Yuri Ivanov vs. the State Energy and Water Regulatory Commission (SEWRC)