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Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy or perhaps both. -- James Madison

Håndhevelse av menneskeretten tilgang til offentlige forvaltningsdokumenter i Bayern / Tyskland

Jeg utvandret fra Bayern for 38 år siden også pga. mangel på transparens. Det var nesten umulig å få tak i nødvendig informasjon å ivareta egne interesser.

Mer enn 120 stater vedtok offentlighetslover, som dekker mer enn 88% av verdens befolkning. I Europa og Sentral-Asia har 46 land vedtatt offentlighetslover på nasjonalt nivå som dekker 98% av befolkningen. Bayern mangler en offentlighetslover for å få tilgang til offentlige dokumenter fra alle sektorer.

Europarådet og FN sikrer tilgang til informasjon i menneskerettighetskonvensjoner. Innenlandske juridiske / administrative rettsmidler må uttømmes først. Etterpå er det mulig å klage til internasjonale organer. I 3 tyske stater mangler en generell offentlighetslove for tilgang til offentlige dokumenter. X. Baltic Sea NGO Forum undersøkte "Rollen til internasjonale lovgivere og deres respektive innflytelse på nasjonal lovgivning om tilgang til informasjon" og foreslo juridiske virkemidler. Det ble sendt en parallell rapport til menneskerettighetskomiteen og en klage til Universal Periodic Review.

Delstaten Bayern avviser anbefalingene fra Kommisjonæren for menneskerettigheter fra Europarådet og nekter å gi innsyn i grunnene. Etterpå ble en klage mot Bayern innlevert 14. juli 2012. Anken ble avslått 14. februar 2014. En konstitusjonell klage 1 BvR 897/14 har vært nødvendig og ble innlevert 17. mars 2014. 13. januar 2016 ble grunnlovsklagen avvist av forfatningsdomstolen. Derfor ble det innlevert en klage til Den europeiske menneskerettighetsdomstol og en klage til FNs menneskerettighetskomité. 29. juni 2019 sendte Center for Law and Democracy en detaljert klage til Human Rights Committee c / o OHCHR-UNOG, Petition Team med vedlegg. Menneskerettighetskomiteen sendte kommunikasjonen til Tyskland i februar 2020. Tyskland vil nå ha seks måneder til å svare i henhold til komiteens forretningsorden.

Innenlandske rettsmidler

Tyskland ratifiserte den internasjonale konvensjonen om sivile og politiske rettigheter (ICCPR) og europeisk menneskerettighetskonvensjon (EMKR). I henhold til artikkel 46 EMK er Tyskland bundet av avgjørelser fra Den europeiske menneskerettighetsdomstol (ECtHR). Innenriks juridiske / administrative rettsmidler må uttømmes for å klage til FNs menneskerettighetskomité [5] og Den europeiske menneskerettighetsdomstol [6].

Conventions of UN and Council of Europe

Access to documents of public administration is a human right according to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) [1, 4, 5] and jurisdiction [6] of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) on the basis of the European Convention for Human Rights (ECHR) [2] and is seen as a precondition for democracy and important in the fight of corruption.

UN, OSCE and AOS confirm in their Joint Declaration by the Three Special Mandates for Protecting Freedom of Expression 6. December 2004, that Access to Information is a human right: [3]:

„The right to access information held by public authorities is a fundamental human right which should be given effect at the national level through comprehensive legislation (for example Freedom of Information Acts) based on the principle of maximum disclosure, establishing a presumption that all information is accessible subject only to a narrow system of exceptions."

The "General Comment No. 34 on Article 19 of the ICCPR" says [4]:

"18. Article 19, paragraph 2 embraces a general right of access to information held by public bodies. Such information includes all records held by a public body, regardless of the form in which the information is stored, its source and the date of production."
"19. (...) States parties should also enact the necessary procedures, whereby one may gain access to information, such as by means of freedom of information legislation."

The federal Freedom of Information law (IFG) in Germany violates the principal of maximum disclosure of public documents. 130 states with more then 5.5 billion [9, 10] inhabitants adopted better ATI laws. 3 German states do not have ATI laws at all. 125 states [11] with 5.9 billion inhabitants i. e. 84 % of mankind adopted ATI laws or secured access to information in there constitutions. Can this human right be enforced by courts?

Complaint against Bavaria

More then 110 States adopted FOI laws. In Europe and Central Asia 46 countries covering 98% of the population have adopted FOI laws at national level. Bavaria lacks a FOI law, to access public documents of all sectors. The report CommDH(2007)14 of the Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg about his visit to Germany 9. – 11. and 15. – 20. October 2006 suggests to add human rights to the core curricula in the legal education and practical training of lawyers and educate judges and administration in human rights. The petition II/VF.0993.15 to the parliament in Bavaria suggests to follow the recommendation and educate judges and administration in human rights. 3. July 2008 the parliament answered: "The petition is finished on the basis of the statements of the government." This means the suggestions are dismissed. Both the parliament Landtag, the ministry of justice (Justizministerium) and ministry of interior (Innenministerium) refused to give access to these statements, because it was written for the parliament. 13. December 2011 [7] access was again requested, because the human right of access to information is recognized by more then 115 states [11] with 5.9 billion inhabitants. These requests were rejected 23. January 2012 and 31. January 2012 with insufficient reasons. On 14. July 2012 a complaint to the administrative court in Munich was filed [8].
13 June 2013 the court ruled to deny access e. g. because: Judgement BVerwG, of 16.09.1980, BVerwG 1 C 52.75 says that ECHR does not include access to public documents only access to generally accessible sources (e. g. newspapers). An appeal was filed 25 July 2013. The appeal was denied 14. February 2014. Therefore a constitutional complaint 1 BvR 897/14 has been necessary and was filed 17 March 2014. On 13. January 2016 the Constitutional complaint was rejected. Complaints to ECtHR and the UN Human Rights Committee are filed.







Sources:

  1. Access to information is a human right according to UN: https://www.right2info.org/international-standards#section-1

  2. Access to information in ECHR: https://www.right2info.org/international-standards#section-5

  3. UN, OSCE and AOS Joint Declaration by the Three Special Mandates for Protecting Freedom of Expression 6. December 2004: http://merlin.obs.coe.int/iris/2005/2/article1

  4. "General Comment No. 34 on Article 19 of the ICCPR": http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/hrc/comments.htm

  5. Complains to UN Human Rights Committee: http://right2info.org/cases#section-6

  6. Jurisdiction European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR): http://right2info.org/cases#section-2

  7. Application for access of the reasons why the suggestions of the Human Rights Commissioner have been rejected: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/ifg-einsicht.htm

  8. Complaint Administrative Court (Verwaltungsgericht) Munich: http://wkeim.bplaced.net/files/vgm-2012.htm

  9. Access to Information Laws: http://right2info.org/access-to-information-laws

  10. FOI Laws: Counts Vary Depending on Definitions: http://www.freedominfo.org/2011/10/foi-laws-counts-vary-slightly-depending-on-definitions/

  11. Constitutional Provisions, Laws and Regulations: http://right2info.org/laws


Complaint (VG München Az. M 17 K 12.3408) and follow-up:


Follow-up:


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Colours on picture: dark green: FOIA enacted. Yellow: pending law.. FOIA= Freedom of Information Act