Cabinet convicted for the second time for refusing to give information

2002 news

The Supreme Administrative Court convicted the Council of Ministers for the second time for having refused to give the minutes from a cabinet session to the journalist Aleksei Lazarov. The high court ruled that the cabinet had committed a "serious violation" of the Access to Public Information Act.

This is the second time the government is convicted for refusal to give the minutes for its first cabinet session. In May 2002, the court ruled that the government had violated the Access to Public Information Act by failing to supply the document duly requested by Aleksei Lazarov. The court ruled that the Council of Ministers should re-consider Mr. Lazarov's request. The second application, however, was also unsuccessful, as the cabinet neither supplied the minutes, nor motivated its decision in the prescribed term.

It is unacceptable that it is the government that sets the tone for the entire administration for violating the Constitutional right to information, said Lazarov's attorney Alexander Kashumov from the Access to Information Programme.

More information about the case and the court decision in Bulgarian is available on the AIP website. top