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Publication date: 17.05.2024
Legal limits of limiting access to court decisions: decision of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court
The issue of access to court decisions has always been relevant in the legal field. Openness and availability of legal information is the basis of a fair trial and a democratic society. Therefore, the issue of restricting access to the Unified State Register of Court Decisions (USSR) is of particular interest, especially when it comes to grounds not provided for by law. The latter became the object of attention of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court, which made an important decision in this matter.
In the resolution of February 15, 2024 in case No. 990/164/23, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court provided a clear and authoritative definition of the limits of access to the USSR. According to the decision of the Supreme Court of Ukraine, restriction of the right to free use of the EDRSR on grounds not expressly provided for by law is allowed only on the basis of a court decision. This means that no authority, including the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine (VRP), can independently establish grounds for restricting access to the EDRSR.
Investigating the circumstances of the case, the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court recognized as illegal and invalid the decision of the Supreme Administrative Court, by which the Order of Conduct of the EDRSR was supplemented with a provision on limiting (postponing) the provision of general access to the electronic resources of this Register on the basis of a motivated resolution of the investigator or prosecutor. The plaintiffs who opposed this decision convincingly proved that such restrictions significantly infringed the rights of citizens to access court decisions compared to the regulation established by law.You may be interested in the following articles: lawyer consultation, lawyer consultation, analysis of documents, legal analysis of the situation, written consultation, verification of documents by a lawyer, lawyers, documents, lawyer's assistance online, lawyer online, legal opinion, legal opinion of a lawyer, lawyer online
The Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court emphasized that the right of access to judicial decisions is an important constitutional principle. If there is a limitation of this right, it must be lawful and have a purpose that prevails over the legitimate interest of the person who wishes to have access to judicial decisions. According to the law, such restrictions should be established only by the law, and not by a regulatory act of the authority. Therefore, the VRP does not have the authority to establish grounds for restricting access to the EDRSR.
The opinion of the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court in case No. 990/164/23 is an important step in ensuring legal certainty and protecting the rights of citizens to access court decisions. This decision emphasizes the need to uphold the principles of legality and democracy in the country's legal system and sets an important precedent for future cases in this area. "Within the powers of the state authority, which is entrusted with the duty of approving the Procedure for Conducting the EDRSR, the VRP should specify the law on the basis of which access to this Register will be limited, and not establish, prescribe and approve in its normative legal act the rules for limiting the general access to the EDRSR, for which it did not have and cannot have the authority, since such restrictions are established exclusively by law," noted the VP of the Supreme Court.
