 |
Does the Minister of Economy and Industry owe a duty to provide access to information on arms exports from Bulgaria over the past three years?
This issue will be presented before the Sofia-City Administrative Court (SCAC) in a case brought by Boryana Dzhambazova – a journalist who is preparing a piece on the subject for the New York Times.
With an information request dated end of April 2023, Dzhambazova requested access to the following information from the Ministry of Economy and Industry:
1. The annual reports of the Interdepartmental Committee on Export Controls and Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction for 2020, 2021 and 2022. Pursuant to Article 70 of the Defence-Related Products and Dual-Use Items and Technologies Export Control Act, the Interdepartmental Committee on Export Control and Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction with the Minister of Economy and Industry is required to publish these reports on the Ministry's website, but none have been published since 2019. I request to be provided with the annual reports, including the Aggregate data on the issued authorisations/certificates for export and transfer of defence-related products from the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria and the realised export and transfer of defence-related products or the so-called Annex 2, which contains the number of issued authorisations, the value of the issued authorisations, the realised value in euro by country of export and the list of defence-related products.
2. How many companies have received licenses and certificates of registration for foreign trade activities involving defense-related products in each separate year – for 2020, 2021 and 2022?
3. How many companies have received licenses and certificates of registration for foreign trade activities involving defense-related products from the beginning of the year to date?
4. What are the figures for ammunition exports to the European Union from the beginning of the year to date?
5. What is the total value of the export and transfer of defence-related products from Bulgaria to other EU member states from the beginning of the year to date?
With a decision dated 4 May 2023, the Minister responded to the requestor, but in practice did not grant access to the information requested under any of the points in the request. The decision states that the annual reports for 2020, 2021 and 2022 have been prepared but will only be published once they have been approved by the National Assembly. Regarding companies licensed to trade in arms, it is stated that the Ministry does not possess such information. Finally, regarding the export of ammunition to the European Union, it is indicated that the Council of the EU is preparing a consolidated report, which has not yet been produced.
The refusal was appealed before the SCAC with the support of AIP.
The appeal resulted in the opening of administrative case No 5136/2023 on the register of the SCAC, Second Division, Panel 59, which was scheduled for an open hearing on 21 September 2023, at 9:50 am.
***
Is the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) obliged to provide access to information regarding the court building’s access regime on two specific dates since the end of June when elections were held for members of the Judges’ College of the Supreme Judicial Council?
This issue will be raised before the Pleven Administrative Court in the case of Vladislava Tsarigradska – judge at the Lukovit District Court – and claimant in the case for challenging the decision for the election of members of the Judges’ College of the Supreme Judicial Council (JC of the SJC) from the judges quota.
With an information request dated April 2023, Tsarigradska requested access to the following information:
1. A copy of the orders of the President of the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC), in force and applicable on 24 June 2022, and coordinated with the relevant territorial unit of the General Directorate "Security", which, in accordance with paragraph 17 of the Rules for Internal Order, Access Regime and Security in the Buildings and Facilities of the Judiciary, determine the order of entry to and exit from the building of the SAC, located in the city of Sofia, at bul. Aleksandar Stambolyiski No 18, during holidays;
2. A copy of the order of the President of the SAC, coordinated with the relevant territorial unit of the General Directorate "Security", establishing for the dates of 25 and 26 June 2022, outside the working hours of the court, the organization and provision of access for magistrates and employees, both through the main entrance and through the staff entrance of the building of the SAC.
3. It is noted in the information request that this information is requested in connection with the fact that during the election of members of the JC of the SJC, multiple consecutive votes were made from the same IP address from the SAC building.
With a decision of 10 May 2023, access to the requested information was refused. It was stated that the Access to Public Information Act (APIA) was not applicable in the present case as the requsetor could have requested the information under the procedural law in the framework of the civil proceedings she was pursuing against the decision for the election of judges for the college of the SJC. It was added that the information sought was not related to public life and did not enable citizens to form an opinion on the activities of the obliged bodies under the law, and therefore did not fall within the scope of the APIA.
The refusal was appealed with the support of AIP.
The appeal resulted in the opening of administrative case No 464/2023 on the register of the Pleven Administrative Court, which was scheduled for an open hearing on 2 October 2023, at 12:00 pm.
***
Are the statements of administrative offence and the penalty decrees issued to TPP Brickel by the Regional Inspectorate of Environment and Water – Stara Zagora public information?
This question will be raised in the case of the Association "Za Zemiata (For the Earth) – Access to Justice" against a second refusal by the Director of the Regional Inspectorate for Environment and Water (RIEW) – Stara Zagora.
With an information request dated 8 November 2022, the following information was requested:
1. In connection with an announcement that the RIEW – Stara Zagora has imposed 18 penalty orders on thermal power plants from "the Maritsa-East complex – 16 of them on TPP Brickel", we would like you to provide us with information about the penalty orders and the documentation related to them. What penalties have been imposed by these penalty orders, which of them have entered into legal force and what action has been taken to impose the penalties provided for therein?
2. Copies of all statements of administrative offence and penalty orders issued to TPP Brickel from 1 january 2022 until the date of this information request.
With a decision dated 21 November 2022, the Director of the RIEW – Stara Zagora refused access with the argument that the requested information did not constitute public information within the meaning of Art. 2 of the APIA.
The refusal was repealed with Judgment No 3822/9 June 2023 of the SCAC, Second Division, Panel 27 on administrative case No 11351/2022, and the case was remitted to the RIEW – Stara Zagora for re-examination.
With a decision dated 27 June 2023, the Director of the RIEW – Stara Zagora once again refused access, this time with the argument that the requested information did not constitute information related to the environment within the meaning of the Environmental Protection Act.
The second refusal was appealed before the SCAC with the support of AIP.
The appeal resulted in the opening of administrative case No 6970/2023 on the register of the SCAC, Second Division, Panel 22, which is scheduled for an opening hearing on 15 September 2023, at 11:00 am.
***
Does the Electricity System Operator owe access to information on payments made to registered producers of electricity in the period from 1 September 2021 to 31 March 2023?
This issue will be raised in a fourth case of the Association "Za Zemiata (For the Earth) – Access to Justice" against a refusal by the Electricity System Operator (ESO). In the first three cases between the same parties, ESO refused access to identical information, but for a preceding time period. After three consecutive refusals were repealed by the SCAC, ESO provided the requested information.
When a new access to information request was submitted regarding the same information, but for a different period, ESO issued another refusal.
The fourth refusal of ESO was also appealed before the SCAC with the support of AIP.
The appeal resulted in the opening of administrative case No 4749/2023 on the register of the SCAC, Second Division, Panel 76, which has been scheduled for an open hearing on 4 October 2023, at 14:00 h.
***
Is the information related to the documents on the basis of which the Ministry of Youth and Sports issued a license to the Automobile Federation of Bulgaria public?
This issue will be raised before the Burgas Administrative Court in a case brought by Venelin Urumov.
With an information request dated 17 July 2023, Urumov requested access to the following information:
- All annexes within the meaning of Art. 21, par.1, subpar. 5 of the Physical Education and Sports Act to the application of the Automobile Federation of Bulgaria, on the basis of which was issued their current sports licence. I would like to have access in the form of a list of the names of the attached rules. As well as access in the form of electronic copies of all attached documents after deletion of any personal data.
Тhe information was refused by a decision of the Committee on the APIA at the Ministry of Youth and Sports on the grounds that it did not constitute public information within the meaning of the APIA.
The refusal was appealed with the support of AIP.
The appeal resulted in the opening of administrative case No 1574/2023 on the register of the Burgas Administrative Court, which has been scheduled for an open hearing on 26 September 2023, at 11:00 am.
==============================================
|
|
The publication is part of the project "Legal Help to Access to Information Cases", implemented by the Access to Information Programme, supported by a grant from the German Marshall Fund of the Unted States (GMF). The views expressed here do not necessarily represent the views of the German Marshall Fund or their partners.