Ministry of Environment – Dismissed (Estonia, 2020)

The complainant submitted a request for information to the Ministry of the Environment requesting access to the impact assessment of the Forestry Development Plan and to documents where the Ministry of the Environment has assessed this impact assessment. In addition, the complainant requested information on the members of the Impact Assessment Working Group. The Ministry of the Environment refused to grant the information requested on the grounds that access to the requested documents is restricted on the basis of Section 35(2)(2) of the PIA. The complainant considered that, on the basis of Section 35(2)(2) of the PIA, access to the impact assessment could not be restricted as this is not a document that should be accepted/validated or signed by the administrative authority and governed by administrative law. Thus, he lodged a complaint against the refusal to comply with the request for information. He also claimed that the refusal was unlawful because the grounds for it were not explained. The AKI found that the information requested is public information within the meaning of Section 3(1) of the Public Information Act. However, Section 3(2) states that this access can be restricted according to Section 35(2)(2). The latter foresees that draft, not finalised, documents can be recognised as internal information and, thus, the access to these may be restricted. The impact assessment at stake was not signed nor adopted and as such the restriction applies. Further, the AKI found that the grounds for the refusal to provide information must be communicated according to Section 35(2)(2) of the PIA. The Ministry of Environment could have provided more details, but this does not render the refusal unlawful. Besides, the complainant could have asked for clarifications. As for the members of the Working Group, their names were forwarded to the complainant. Therefore, there was no violation found and the complaint was dismissed.