Information newsletter
Issue 3(15), March 2005

From the courtroom: The President's administration sued under APIA¹
Press release of the Sofia City Court, March 16, 2005

An administrative panel of the Sofia City Court delivered a decision on the appeal of Zoya Dimitrova against a refusal of the Head of the President's administration. The journalist had been refused access, following an information request for a report by the National Security Services and the National Investigation Services by demand of the President. The refusal refers to the Access to Public Information Act and the report contains data about Bulgarian citizens and companies who were involved in oil trade with Iraqi companies or their representatives during the Saddam regime.

The Sofia City Court reverses as illegal the refusal of the Head of the President's administration to disclose the requested information.

The Sofia City Court returns the file to the Head of the President's administration for reconsideration, complying with the arguments of the court decision.

The Sofia City Court sentences the President's administration to pay the court fees of 10 Leva (5 Euro) to the appellant, Zoya Dimitrova.

The court finds that the appeal against the information refusal is legally acceptable: it had been filed in a timely manner against a decision which is subject to judicial review and by a plaintiff who has the legal right of appeal.

The court also finds that the appeal is justified on merits. The decision quotes Recommendation (2002)2 of the Committee of Ministers to the Member states, where it encourages broad access to official documents and allows the public to have an adequate view of, and to form a critical opinion on, the state of the society in which they live and on the authorities that govern them. The Recommendation also encourages informed participation of the public on matters of common interest. The Judgement of the Sofia City Court also refers to a decision of the Constitutional Court of Bulgaria from 1996. It elaborates the right of every citizen under Art. 41 of the Constitution to seek and obtain information “guaranteed by the obligation of public authorities to impart it”.

The court points out that the information request of Zoya Dimitrova meets the requirements of Art. 24 and Art. 25 of APIA: it is filed in written and contains all necessary requisites. Besides, when filing the request, the plaintiff had explicitly mentioned that if the report had contained any legally classified parts, she would have liked to receive partial access.

The refusal letter of the Head of the President administration is a legal statement and should comply with some requirement of the Administrative Procedures Act. The Act determines some requisites of the refusal, without which it should be considered unlawful.

The letter of the President administration lacks any proof why the requested information is secret, nor does it refer to any legal grounds for its classification. The refusal does not even specify whether the requested information is classified as state or official secret under the Protection of Classified Information Act (PCIA). The completion of the report by the National Investigation Services in cooperation with the National Security Services does not automatically make the information confidential, nor does it remove the obligation of the public authority (Head of the President administration) to provide criteria and reasons for classifying the requested information.

The refusal appealed by Zoya Dimitrova lacks even a statement that the requested information is a state secret. This fact obstructs the court from exercising effective judicial control over the lawfulness of the refusal and the implementation of APIA. The refusal does not refer to the provisions of PCIA.

In view of the above arguments, the Sofia City Court rules that the appealed refusal should be reversed, because it has been issued in brech of the administrative provisions of APIA.

The judgement of the Sofia City Court (SCC) can be appealed before the Supreme Administrative Court within fourteen days of notification of the litigants.

Public relations department of SCC