Trusted by the judiciary, government lawyers, prosecutors, and many leading counsel. Click here to request a subscription.
|
or click here to request site subscription to search and view all judgments |
The High Court considered an appeal by an environmental group against a decision upholding a €15 charge for providing access to environmental information by a statutory forestry company. The appellant argued that the charge was unlawful, both under EU law following the Moldova decision via the Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee, and under the principle of equivalence with Irish freedom of information law. The court determined that both the Moldova ground and the equivalence ground raised significant questions of EU law that warranted a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The judge ordered that two key questions be referred to the CJEU for guidance on whether such charges are permissible in light of recent international developments and the comparative domestic legal regime for access to information. All other preliminary objections relating to admissibility of grounds and entitlement to relief were either not pressed or resolved in favour of the appellant, with costs reserved.
environmental information – access to information – Aarhus Convention – AIE Regulations – Moldova case – Aarhus Convention Compliance Committee – EU law – principle of equivalence – freedom of information – charges for information requests – reference to CJEU – High Court statutory appeal – relief sought: order to set aside decision – mandatory refund – declaration – search and retrieval costs – Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties – remedies for unlawful fees
Note: This is intended to be a fair and accurate report of a decision made public by a court of law. Any errors should be notified to the editor and will be dealt with accordingly.
The only subject matter index for all Irish judgments over the past thirteen years. Click here to request a subscription.
Register Now