Freedom of Information Center of Armenia.

On January 29, the Court of the General Jurisdiction of Center and Nork-Marash administrative districts (Judge Mrs. Gayane Karakhanyan) fully satisfied the FOI Center’s claim against the National Technical Safety Center SNCO compelling the respondent to provide the whole requested information within 5 days.

On September 17, 2009, the Freedom of Information Center sent an information request to the head of the National Technical Center state non commercial organization Mr. Ashot Poghosyan to provide the following information:

1. How many private companies conducting an expert examination are registered in the SNCO’s Register by August 1st 2009? To whose name are those companies registered? Please indicate names of the companies which received a license.
2. Please, provide the SNCO staff lists for 2008 and 2009 years, and the list asserting the volume of the staff employees’ salaries for the same period.

With a half page answer the National Technical Center SNCO informed, that FOICA had to apply for the requested information to the press secretary of the Ministry of Emergency Situation. The motivation was that according to a decree of the Minister of Emergency Situation any information about the structural and separated departments of the Ministry and about their activity must be provided only by the press secretary of the Ministry of Emergency Situation. In fact, the SNCO didn’t answered FOICA’s request in essence. On September 29, 2009, FOICA appealed the answer in the Court of the General Jurisdiction of Center and Nork-Marash administrative districts.

During the trial the representative of the National Technical Center SNCO insisted that their refusal is legal, mentioning the Ministers decree as a basis. But it emerged during the trial that abovementioned decree did not obligate the SNCO to send inquiries to the press secretary of the Ministry. According to the decree, the SNCO should only coordinate to the press secretary the provision of information. That is, it is only a decree which defines the internal procedure for providing information