On January 28 of this year, RA citizen Davit Matevosyan submitted three notifications to the mayor of Yerevan: 02.08.2008, 02.16.08, and 17.02.08, regarding the organization of a mass public event. Decisions were made to take the information into account for two of them, while no administrative act was issued for the third.
The organizer of the mass public event requested permission from the mayor of Yerevan to access information on mass public events in 2008 during the period between January 27-30. The request included making copies, photocopies, and extracts of the administrative proceedings initiated in the Yerevan Municipality, along with their materials, at his discretion. The mayor of Yerevan did not respond to the application.
Davit Matevosyan’s representative, Artak Zeynalyan, applied on February 3, 2008, requesting permission to access the administrative proceedings initiated in the Yerevan Municipality between January 27-30 of that year. The application sought to make copies, photocopies, and extracts at his discretion. The mayor of Yerevan did not respond to this request either.
Subsequently, Davit Matevosyan (represented by Artak Zeinalyan) appealed to the RA Administrative Court, seeking a declaration of the mayor of Yerevan Yervand Zakharyan’s inactivity as illegal, and requesting access to administrative proceeding materials for copying, photocopying, and extracting at his discretion.
Throughout the court investigation, it was established that the RA Constitution, as well as RA Laws “On Administrative Fundamentals and Administrative Procedure” and “On Freedom of Information,” were applicable in this case.
The administrative court of RA, with presiding judge R. Hakobyan, ruled in favor of Davit Matevosyan’s claim against Mayor Yervand Zakharyan. The court declared the inaction of the Mayor of Yerevan illegal and recognized the plaintiff’s right to receive information. Specifically, the court ordered the Mayor of Yerevan to provide the plaintiff the opportunity to familiarize himself with the materials of the administrative proceedings initiated in the Yerevan Municipality between January 27-30 of that year and to make copies, photocopies, and extracts from them at his discretion.
This ruling effectively upheld the citizen’s right to access information.
