The Metropolitan Court did not deliver its decision on appeal today in the lawsuit between Energy Club and the National Atomic Energy Agency’s Nuclear Safety Directorate (NAEA-NSD). The public still does not have access to the information on the expert opinions on the damage reduction process of the Paks Nuclear Power Plant.
Respondent NAEA-NSD submitted its motion to the court only yesterday, one day before the hearing, and sent it to the lawyer of Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) only today as well.
The court held the hearing but did not want to deliver final decision without reviewing respondent’s motion.
Next hearing is scheduled on April 20, 2006, 1 pm. Location: II. District, Fekete Sas street 3. Room Nr.VIII.
Last fall, the Open Government Partnership (OGP) adopted a new policy to help re-establish an environment for government and civil society collaboration, safeguarding the Open Government Declaration and to mitigate reputational risks to OGP. Today, members of Hungarian civil society, including representatives of the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and K-Monitor, as well as Sunlight’s international policy manager, a former employee of K-Monitor, called on the OGP Steering Committee to take action under the new policy and launch a thorough investigation into the situation in Hungary, with a special attention to the deterioration of the space for civil society.
The draft law – currently before the Parliament – on Data Protection and Freedom of Information will replace the independent Data Protection and Freedom of Information Commissioner with an administrative authority. This change will seriously diminish the level of privacy protection and weaken the right to access to information in Hungary.