Freedom of Information: A Comparative Legal Survey - Federation of ...

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funded from the consolidated budget, to the extent of that funding. This is a broad defi nition but it is
not clear whether private bodies that undertake public functions but without public funding are included.
The media are also included as subjects of the law, although it seems inappropriate to place special
obligations on these particular private bodies, notwithstanding their important role in fostering a free fl ow
of information in society. Certainly it is not the practice in other countries to subject the media to special
information disclosure obligations.
Procedural Guarantees
As noted, citizens or residents may make requests for information. Requests may be made in either oral or
written form, provided that where an oral request is refused, it may be followed-up with a written request.
This is presumably to avoid any disadvantage that might otherwise result from making an oral request. The
request must contain the name and contact details of the applicant, as well as a suffi cient description of
the information sought and the form in which access is sought. Requests must be registered by the public
body in question (Articles 24 and 25). Where the information sought is not suffi ciently clearly described, the
applicant shall be given up to 30 days to rectify the problem, and this time shall not be counted as part of
the time limit for providing a response to the request (Article 29).
An applicant must be notifi ed in writing of a decision regarding his or her request as quickly as possible
but in any case within 14 days, unless the application is for a large number of documents and more time is
needed to respond, in which case an extension of up to 10 days may be made, provided that the applicant
must be notifi ed of this (Articles 28 and 30). Actual access may be delayed until after the requisite fee has
been paid (Article 35).
Where the body to whom the original request was made does not have the information, but knows that it
is held by another public body, it shall forward the request to that other body within 14 days. If it does not
know of another body which holds the information, it shall inform the applicant of this, again within 14 days
(Article 32).
The Law sets out different time limits and procedures where the consent of a third party is required for
disclosure of the information. 171 In that case, the time limit may be extended by another 14 days and the
third party must be contacted within 7 days. Any disclosure must comply with any conditions imposed by
the third party in giving his or her consent. Where a third party refuses to consent to the disclosure of the
information, any part of the document which may be provided without affecting that party’s interests shall
be severed from the rest of the document and disclosed (Article 31).
Where access is being granted, the notice required to be provided shall state the scope of information
being disclosed, the time within which the applicant must effect access, which shall be at least 30 days,
the location for access, the form of access and any costs. Presumably a failure to access the information
within the time given would simply mean that a new request would be needed to access that information.
A refusal to grant access shall state the “legal and factual grounds for the refusal”, as well as the date and
the right of appeal. In both cases, the notice must either be signed for by the applicant or sent by registered
post. This seems excessively formal, particularly where access is being granted, in which case notifi cation
by email or another simple form should be enough (Articles 34, 38 and 39).
The Law provides for information to be provided in four different forms, namely inspection of the record,
a verbal explanation, a paper copy or another type of copy. An Order adopted by the Minister of Finance in
January 2001 adds a written explanation to this list, and this is now being implemented in practice by public
bodies. The information shall be provided in the form requested unless this is not technically feasible,
results in an unjustifi ed increase in costs or may lead to an infringement of copyright. The fi rst two forms
of access shall be provided free of charge, while charges for the latter two forms shall be according to a
schedule determined by the Minister of Finance, which shall not exceed the actual costs incurred. The Law
does not elaborate on what this might include, only replication and dissemination costs or also relevant
staff costs, but the 2001 Order made it clear that only material costs and not staff time could be charged.
The Order sets the rate for each page copied at 0.09 Bulgarian Leva (approximately USD0.07). A justifi cation