The Anti-Corruption Fund has accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property /CCCCIAP/ of not complying with court orders by refusing to declassify its decisions on confiscation of property.
The decision on this case is of the Administrative Court-Sofia-city /ACSG/, with which in November 2022 accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property was obliged to disclose its decisions on confiscation of property within a two-week period, reported the The Anti-Corruption Fund.
Instead, accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property filed a claim to have the court’s decision declared null and void and suspended the proceedings for the provision of public information.
“The refusal to comply with a court decision on the disclosure of the requested information is against the law”, said Daniela Peneva, legal advisor to the Anti-Corruption Fund. And added:
“The Commission is not the body that has the authority to suspend the execution of an effective court decision. The contesting of the decision of the ASSG by accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property is an administrative trick in an attempt to avoid the implementation of an effective court decision. It shows that for the commission, the court decisions just don’t apply.”
In November 2022, the Administrative Court ruled that the decisions of the accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property to confiscate illegally acquired property cannot be an official secret, but on the contrary – by law they must be public – and obliged the commission to provide full access to them.
The case for public access to the decisions of the accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property was initiated by the Anti-Corruption Fund after the accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property refused to disclose them, claiming that they were an „official secret“ by virtue of a 2018 order of the then chairman of the accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property Plamen Georgiev. Georgiev resigned in 2019 after the „Apartmentgate“ scandal, which began with revelations by The Anti-Corruption Fund and Free Europe. Georgiev’s order hides the decisions in the largest sphere of activity of the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property, in which the largest number of its employees are employed and the largest number of acts are issued.
The decisions are important, because it is through them that it is possible to clarify what inspections were carried out by the state authority, the facts established on the basis of them, the criteria and legal conclusions that led to the initiation of a court case, which greatly affects the property sphere of citizens.
In November 2022, the Administrative Court – Sofia city ruled that the accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property should provide the information requested by the The Anti-Corruption Fund within 14 days after the entry into force of the court decision. The decision of the court is final and not subject to challenge.
Instead of complying with the court decision, however, the commission filed a claim to have it declared null and void. Immediately afterwards, the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property arbitrarily stopped the disclosure of the information sought by The Anti-Corruption Fund.
“Even if a nullity claim is filed, KPCONPI does not have the right to arbitrarily decide not to implement the court’s decision and not to disclose the public information it seeks. The decision of the ASSG is a legal act that has entered into force, mandatory for implementation by all to whom it applies, including the administrative body – accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property”, commented Daniela Peneva.
According to her, accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property filed its claim for nullity in bad faith. Claims for nullity under this order can be filed in exceptional cases – if, for example, the court decision was issued by an incompetent authority or is so incomprehensible that it could be equated to no decision. In this case, there are obviously no legal grounds for contesting the effective court decision, which was issued by the competent authority – the Administrative Court. Moreover, in its claim, the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property only cites arguments for disagreement with the decision.
“Disagreement with an effective court decision does not cancel the obligation to fulfill it. It can be seen that the the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property filed its claim solely with the aim of prolonging the court proceedings and thus the disclosure of the information to be delayed or completely stopped in an endless movement between the judicial institutions”, Peneva also pointed out. And explained:
„This is in complete contradiction to the Access to Public Information Act, which declares decisions in access to public information cases to be final after the first instance, precisely to protect the public interest in timely receipt of the information.“
„The actions of the accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property show that the commission is trying to circumvent the law in order not to comply with the court decision,“ Boyko Stankushev, director of the Anti-Corruption Fund, commented.
“This behavior of a key state body is a threat to legal certainty and the public interest in access to information. The Anti-Corruption Fund filed a complaint with the Administrative Court, in which we ask the court to annul the decision by which accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property stops the disclosure of the information we requested. We will monitor the court’s decision on our appeal and inform the public in due course. We believe that the decisions of the accused the Commission for Combating Corruption and Confiscation of Illegally Acquired Property will become public – the public interest is for them to be as such, as the court has ruled, in accordance with the law”, he also pointed out.
