Sylwia Zaborska
Radca Prawny, 4 (37), 2023, s. 149 - 163
https://doi.org/10.4467/23921943RP.23.042.19511Dilemmas within the case law of administrative courts on the abuse of the right to public information
The right to public information is one of the systemic principles of the functioning of the state. However, restrictions in access to this particular right form exceptions to the constitutional principle. Recently, the case law of administrative courts and the views of legal authors and commentators have begun to invoke the framework of the abuse of the right to public information as a circumstance based on which an entity may deny the applicant access to information. In the absence of statutory regulation, the boundaries and guidelines for applying the framework of the abuse of the right to public information are set by the case law of administrative courts. When analysing the most recent rulings of the Supreme Administrative Court of Poland and the provincial administrative courts, one can see a certain dualism in the applicability of the framework in question. The lack of uniformity in this respect stems primarily from the need to balance the values between respecting the constitutional principle of the right to public information and the possibility of limiting it in events of abuse of an individual's right.
As a result of the analysis of the recent case law of administrative courts, a position is outlined indicating that, according to the dominant line of case law, entities obliged to provide public information may invoke the framework mentioned above to protect themselves from actions that are contrary to the assumptions of the Polish Act on Access to Public Information.