Court of Appeal overturns the judgement ordering the VRU Apparatus to provide requested information to ZHAR.INFO

The Administrative Court of Appeal No. 7 overturned the ruling of the first instance court ordering the Office for Citizen Appeals of the VRU Apparatus to provide the Khmelnytsky media outlet ZHAR.INFO with the information they previously requested. The court decided that the case had the wrong defendant, who could not be replaced at the appeal stage.

The judgement was passed on July 2, 2024.

On May 8, 2024, the Khmelnytsky District Administrative Court ruled that the refusal by the Office for Citizen Appeals of the VRU Apparatus to provide public information to the Khmelnytsky media outlet ZHAR.INFO to be unlawful and arbitrary.

On March 20, the Khmelnytsky media outlet ZHAR.INFO filed a lawsuit against the Apparatus of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on behalf of their journalist Alyona Bereza for refusing to provide public data on the overseas business trips by the deputies representing the Khmelnytsky oblast.

In turn, the Verkhovna Rada Apparatus appealed the first instance court's judgement. In their appeal, the Apparatus stated that the first instance court did not discuss the issue of replacing the defendant (involving a co-defendant or a second defendant) and did not rule on this matter. Other explanations were about the order to provide information.

The court of appeal satisfied the VRU Apparatus's appeal in part and canceled the judgement of the first instance court. The court also passed a new ruling dismissing the claim filed by journalist Alyona Bereza. This ruling is not subject to appeal.

"In my opinion, the involved employees of the Apparatus should bear at least disciplinary responsibility. Unfortunately, the courts did not issue a separate ruling that would focus on the VRU Apparatus' failure to state in the first instance court that they were not a proper defendant in the case, only revealing this in the court of appeal. This is a shameful practice that undermines the trust in such a subject of power," noted Yevhen Vorobyov, a Platform for Human Rights lawyer who is helping the journalists in this case, in a comment to an IMI representative.

On July 26, the online media sued two defendants simultaneously (the VRU Apparatus itself and the Office for Citizen Appeals) in order to get the information they requested earlier this year. As of now, a judge to try the case has been chosen.