Kiril Terziiski, Attorney-at-law in AIP legal team

The valuers' report and the market valuation of a municipal property constitute public information which should be provided under the Access to Public Information Act.


This was the conclusion reached by a panel of the Plovdiv Administrative Court in a case brought by Anton Valkov (Civic Initiative "For the Park", Plovdiv) against the refusal of the Secretary of the Plovdiv Municipality to provide a copy of the valuers' report and the market valuation of a municipal property located in the Recreation and Culture Park.

 

The information was requested with an information request dated 7 April 2023. By notice dated 20 April, the municipal Secretary informed the applicant that he should clarify the subject matter of the requested information. By letter dated 25 April, the requestor replied that he wanted to be provided with the entire valuers’ report (market valuation report) of property with ID 56784.510.558, entrusted by the Municipality of Plovdiv to an independent valuer, with the exception of personal data and other information that cannot be provided under the Access to Public Information Act (APIA). By a letter dated 9 May 2023, the Secretary of the Plovdiv Municipality left the application without consideration, as the subject of the requested information was not specified and only copies of documents were requested, which could not be obtained under the APIA.

 

The refusal was appealed before the Plovdiv Administrative Court with the support of AIP. The appeal presented detailed arguments regarding the unlawfulness of the refusal. It was pointed out that the question of the formulation of the request for access to information (the so-called 'access to information – access to documents' problem) has now been settled by four decisions of five-member panels of the Supreme Administrative Court, according to which whether the specific medium of information (a document) is requested or whether the information itself is requested descriptively is irrelevant to the fact of whether the information is owed.

 

The appeal result in the opening of Administrative case No 1316/2023 of the Plovdiv Administrative Court.

 

With Ruling No. 1674/5 July 2023 of Judge Hristina Yurukova, the decision to leave the request without consideration was repealed and the request was remitted to the Secretary of the Plovdiv Municipality for a ruling on its merits.

 

The court held that the requested information was concise, clear and accurate as identified in the contents of two documents: Market Valuation (the entire valuers’ report) of property with ID 56784.510.558, which are the physical carriers of the information. It is the public body's correct opinion that the APIA regulates public relations related to the right of access to public information, and not to documents. However, it should be borne in mind that public information is mainly contained in the acts of state and local authorities and related documents. From the statement in the request "market valuation" and the qualifier "the entire valuers’ report," there is no doubt that the requestor is seeking access to public information contained in the Market Valuation of the property with ID 56784.510.558 prepared by two valuers. There is no ambiguity related to the information sought. Judging by the reference to the documents – the market valuation/valuers’ report – it is apparent that what was sought was the data and facts contained in the market valuation document and the report on establishing the market value of the property.

 

The Court pointed out that under Art. 2, par. 1 of the APIA, public information within the meaning of that Act is any information relating to public life in the Republic of Bulgaria and enabling citizens to form their own opinion on the activities of the obliged bodies under the Act. It is obvious that in this case the requestor aimed, through the information request submitted under the APIA, to find out the market value of the property with ID 56784.510.558 and the manner of its formation. This information is public and does not fall within the scope of the APIA restrictions.

 

The ruling was not appealed by the Plovdiv Municipality and entered into force.

 

With access to information decision dated 31 July 2023, the Secretary of the Plovdiv Municipality provided the requestor with copies of the two requested documents.



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After the filing of a complaint against a tacit refusal, the Prosecutor's Office granted full access to information on the management of the Prosecutor's Office 's base in Borovets.

With an information request dated 17 May 2023, Doroteya Dachkova (Sega newspaper) requested information related to the decision of the Plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council, reflected in the minutes of its session on 8 June 2017, by which the Prosecutor General was entrusted with the management of a base in Borovets, the so-called "Regent House". The information was requested in the form of the following questions:

-          Have any renovations or other improvements been made to the facility in question since 8 June 2017? If yes – what, when, at what cost and at whose expense?

-          Has the facility in question been occupied and is it currently occupied by the Prosecutor General Mr Ivan Geshev? On what basis, under what conditions (rent, etc.), for what period?

-          From 2017 to date, by year, what have been the costs of running the facility and at whose expense?

-          How many magistrates or court (prosecution) officials have used the holiday base since 8 June 2017?

-          How many and what kind of seminars, trainings, etc. have been held at the said base since 8 June 2017? Please indicate the subject matter of the trainings and the number of magistrates who participated in them.

-          What necessitated the change of use of the property, which after 21 October 2021 is no longer referred to as a "holiday base"?

 

No response was received within the statutory 14-day time limit, so an appeal against the tacit refusal was lodged with the support of AIP.

 

After receiving the complaint, the Prosecutor's Office decided to provide the requested information. With a decision dated 4 July 2023, Mrs Maria Pavlova, Deputy Prosecutor General at the Supreme Prosecutor's Office of Cassation, granted full access to the requested information.

On 8 July 2023, Doroteya Dachkova published an article in the Sega newspaper titled "No Magistrates Spent A Holiday At The Regent’s House During Geshev’s Time,” “The base in the resort of Borovets cost the Prosecutor's Office BGN 1.1 million."

 

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Following an appeal against a tacit refusal, the Mayor of the capital's Bankya District granted full access to information on the amendment of an issued construction permit.

With information request dated 17 May 2023, Boycho Boychev from the city of Sofia requested from the Mayor of the Bankya District a copy of a specific order to supplement a construction permit issued in 2020. 

No response was received within the statutory 14-day time limit, so an appeal against the tacit refusal was lodged with the support of AIP.

 

After receiving the appeal, the Mayor of the Bankya District immediately contacted the requestor and provided a copy of the requested document.

 


 

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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.

 

 

 

 

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