ECtHR: the meeting schedule of the Constitutional Tribunal President is public information
The meeting schedule of Julia Przyłębska is public information, and its non-disclosure was a violation of the law," ruled the European Court of Human Rights after a complaint from the Civil Network Watchdog Poland.
Since 2017, Watchdog Poland has been fighting to access the meeting schedules of the president and vice-president of the Constitutional Tribunal. The organization wanted to verify whether the meetings of Julia Przyłębska and Mariusz Muszyński with politicians from the ruling camp aligned with the decisions of the Tribunal. However, the Tribunal deemed the calendar to be an internal document and not public information.
After exhausting the national appeals process, the organization lodged a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights. On March 21, 2024, the ECHR ruled that there had been a violation of Article 10 in the context of refusing to grant the NGO access to the meeting calendars.
“This ruling is a triumph for transparency, after many years of seeking access to the meeting schedules of the most important individuals in the country. It also signals that the jurisprudential line in these matters deviates from European standards. The Court emphasized the importance of taking into account the significance of the topic for public debate when providing access to information,” comments Watchdog Poland.