Overview of Successful Access to Information Litigation in 2013 20.12.2013

In order to keep you up to date with our latest developments in court practice in Bulgaria, we are publishing an overview of several important access to information court cases that were successfully led with AIP’s legal team assistance in 2013. Information about ongoing and completed access to information cases is included in Bulgarian in AIP monthly FOI newsletter and is available in the special section of AIP web site.

The state-owned enterprise Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority is an obliged subject under the APIA 18.12.2013

By decision as of 24 October 2013, the Administrative Court – Sofia City repealed a refusal by the director of the state-owned enterprise Bulgarian Air Traffic Services Authority to provide information on the business trips of the managerial staff of the company in 2012.

The Ministry of Environment and Water Should Provide the Legal Analysis of the Bansko ski-zone concession 18.12.2013

Access to the legal analysis, requested by the WWF, was refused by the Chief Secretary of the Ministry of Environement and Water on the ground of preparatory documents exemption. By decision as of August 2013, the Administrative Court - Sofia City instructed the MOEW to disclose the requested information.

The President of the Sofia City Court Should Provide Information on Delayed Criminal and Civil Cases 18.12.2013

Access to the information, requested by the journalist Doroteya Dachkova from Sega Daily, was refused on the ground that it had no significance of its own.

The Ministry of Regional Development and Public Works Should Disclose the OLAF’s final report on possible irregularities in an EU project 18.12.2013

The ministry had refused access with the argument that this information related to the preparatory work on the bodies’ acts and had no significance in itself.

The State Fund Agriculture Should Provide Information on the Rural Development Programme  18.12.2013

The Administrative Court - Sofia City repealed a silent refusal by the director of State Fund Agriculture to provide information on the candidates trained in the Rural Development Programme in the period 10.05.2010 – 31.01.2013.

The Minister of Interior Should Disclose the Number and Goal of Meetings with Media Mogul/ MP 18.12.2013

Finding overriding public interest in the disclosure of information on the meetings between the ministers of interior and Delyan Peevski, the Administrative Court – Sofia City repealed a refusal under the APIA. The request was filed by Rossen Bossev, a journalist from “Capital” newspaper.

The Minister of Interior Should Disclose Any Awards Given to the Current Prosecutor General 18.12.2013

The Supreme Administrative Court repealed a refusal of the Minister of Interior to provide information on whether the current Prosecutor General – Sotir Tzatzarov had received an award (a pistol) by the ministry.

Тhe waste management company in Sofia is an obliged subject under the APIA 18.12.2013

By decision as of November 25, 2013, the Administrative Court - Sofia City held that the “Chistota-Iskar” EOOD is obliged under the APIA as a public law organization.

The central heating provider company of Sofia is an obliged subject under the APIA 18.12.2013

The Supreme Administrative Court upheld a first instance court decision finding Toplofikatsia – Sofia EAD (the central heating provider company) to be an obliged subject under the APIA as a public law organization.

The Bulgarian Science Fund Should Provide Information on Project Application Procedure 18.12.2013

By decision as of October 2013, the ACSC repealed a silent refusal of the president of the Bulgarian Science Fund to provide information on the results of a call for proposals procedure in the priority area "Cultural and historical heritage" and specifically on the evaluation and ranking of all submitted projects, as well as on the reasons for approving or rejecting projects.

The Municipal Council of Varna Should Disclose Bonuses in Municipal Companies  18.12.2013

The Supreme Administrative Court repealed a first instance court decision, as well as the Chairperson of the Municipal Council of Varna refusal to provide information on the amount of remunerations received as supplementary remuneration (bonuses) by the managers and supervisors of the municipal companies in Varna.

The Members’ of Parliament Subsidies Declarations Are not a Secret 23.05.2013

On May 16, 2013, a panel of the Supreme Administrative Court in Bulgaria repealed the refusal of the Ministry of Finance to provide access to declarations of independent MPs to direct their full subsidy from the budget to a particular political party.

The Supreme Administrative Court upheld the Decision of the First Instance Court Repealing a Refusal of the Director of the National Customs Agency 08.05.2013

The request was filed in September 2011 by the Chief Editor of Republika daily Petio Blaskov. He demanded information ralated to the installment of measuring instruments in excise customs warehouses.

The APIA Equals the Information Contained in a Document and the Document Itself as a Material Carrier of the Information  08.05.2013

This was the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court for the repealing of a decision of the Administrative court – Targovishte, as well as the refusal of the Targovishte Municipality mayor to provide a copy of the contract for sale of a municipal real-estate property (a former market place) to a private company.

The Names of the Members of the Election Commissions Are not Protected Personal Data  08.03.2013

This was the conclusion of the Supreme Administrative Court on a case initiated by the journalist Diana Boncheva from Yambol

The Ministry of Environment and Waters Should Provide Access to Information Re a Project Funded Under the Environment Operational Programme  08.03.2013

By a decision of 19 February 2013, the ACSC repealed the Ministry of Environment and Water (MOEW) refusal to provide access to information on the project “Technical assistance for the establishment of a system for integrated waste management in the Yambol region”, financed under Operational Programme Environment 2007 – 2013.  The court held that there was overriding public interest in providing the information since it concerns allocation and spending of funds from the EU and the state budget.

The Supreme Administrative Court upheld the Decision of the First Instance Court Repealing a Refusal of the Mayor of Elin Pelin Municipality 08.02.2013

The case is related to the refusal the citizen Lazar Lazarov got after filing a request for information concerning the procedure for approving the expansion of the airfield in the village of Lesnovo.