Kiril Karaivanov vs. Ministry of Economy

Facts:
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.

Arguments of the Parties:
The arguments of the applicant were that the decision was in breach of the imperative provisions of Art. 15, para 2 of APA and Arts. 38 and 39 of APIA and that the requested information was not within the scope of the restriction under Art. 13, para 2, subpara 1 of APIA because the decision was an act of a competent government authority and hence it contained official information within the meaning of Art. 10 of APIA and, secondly, the exhaustive list of cases in the foregoing provisions did not include decisions.

Issue of Interest:
Art. 10 of APIA

Conclusions:
The Director of the Liquidation and Bankruptcy Department at the Ministry of Finance failed to fulfil his duties prescribed by law.

The decision of the Liquidation and Bankruptcy Commission at the Ministry of Finance is an act of a competent government authority and hence it contains official information (Art. 10 of APIA). Besides, as is seen from Art. 9, para 1 of APIA public information may be either official or administrative but never both at the same time. The restriction under Art. 13, para 2 of APIA refers to official information only. However, this case goes beyond the scope of Art. 13, para 2 because this a decision (independent declaration).