In October 2013, a local NGO filed a request to the Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo for access to information related to the reconstruction of a residential building, part of a protected group cultural monument.
The mayor refused on the grounds that the requested information contains personal data of third persons (the residential building’s owners) and their explicit consent was required for the disclosure.
The refusal was challenged before the Veliko Tarnovo Administrative Court (VTAC) with the legal help of Access to Information Programme.
By a Decision No. 119 (in Bulgarian) of 24 March 2014, the VTAC repealed the refusal by the Mayor of Veliko Tarnovo to provide information on the reconstruction of a residential building, part of a protected group cultural monument. The court held that the lack of the third parties’ explicit consent is not grounds for refusal, since in this case the obliged body must provide partial access to the information sought, which the Municipality did not do. In conclusion, the court noted that the existence of overriding public interest in disclosure of the information sought could be admitted in view of the Veliko Tarnovo Municipality’s practice to approve building documentation contrary to the public interest and without regard to the conservation of the architectural heritage requirements.