By a Decision No. 3033 (in Bulgarian) of 4 March 2014, the Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) upheld a decision of the Administrative Court Sofia – City repealing the Ministry of Finance refusal to provide information to Marta Mladenova (journalist from Darik radio) on the supplementary remunerations (bonuses) of the Ministry’s and its subordinate structures’ staff.
The journalist filed a request in January 2013, demanding access to information about the bonuses administered within the Ministry of Finance, the Customs Agency, the National Revenue Agency, Public Financial Inspection Agency, Executive Agency “Audit on EU Funds,” and the State Commission on Gambling. Access was denied on the ground of personal data protection.
The refusal of the Ministry of Finance was challenged before the court with the legal help of AIP.
With a decision as of July 2013, the Administrative Court Sofia – City repealed the refusal of the Ministry of Finance. In their decision, the ACSC justices emphasized that the European Court on Human Rights had assumed as early as 1986, in the case of Lingens v Austria, that public figures “inevitably and knowingly lays himself open to close scrutiny of his every word and deed by both journalists and the public at large.” According to the court, the disclosure of the requested information is of overriding public interest in view of the serious public debate on the topic of civil servants’ bonuses and the existing doubts on the actual situation. The court decision was appealed by the Ministry of Finance.
In its decision, the Supreme Administrative Court held that the requested information gives the citizens the opportunity to form an opinion on the functioning and accountability of government bodies in spending budget funds, as well as on the moral image of senior government officials in relation to the veracity of their public statements in time of financial crisis in the country. In the case, the minister of finance had commented publicly on the issue of received supplementary remuneration in the central state administration.