ASGI, in the framework of the projects Sciabaca and Oruka, has presented requests to access the financial reports of projects implemented by IOM and other international organizations in Libya.
ASGI, in the framework of the projects Oruka and Sciabaca: beyond the border, with the help of a lawyers’ team composed of Salvatore Fachile, Gennaro Santoro, Giulia Crescini and Elisabetta Buranello, has presented a series of requests to access the financial reports of projects funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented by IOM and other international organizations in Libya.
With its judgment of 13 May 2020, no. 3012/2020, the Court reaffirmed that the fundamental principles regarding transparency and access to information provided for by Legislative Decree no. 33/2013 are also applicable to the use of Italian funds given to IOM or other international organizations to carry out humanitarian programs.
The Court confirmed that the Freedom of Information Act provides for the possibility for each citizen, even without a specific reason, to request the public administration to account for the use of public resources.
Furthermore, it stated for the first time that this principle applies also the actions of United Nations agencies, which are subject to the same duties of transparency towards citizens, including for reports sent to the Italian government as the project’s donor.
More precisely the Court stated that all documents that are not covered by State secret are accessible and cannot be withheld unless the public administration gives precise reasons, detailing the public interests compromised by their disclosure. In case of controversy, it is up to the judge to assess the merits of the administration’s refusal, to check whether or not it is reasonable.
In the case at stake, said the Court, “a public interest against the document’s disclosure was not even alleged”, adding that “to the contrary, there is an objective public interest in preventing the mismanagement of these funds, through a better understanding of what financial resources were allocated and for what purpose”.
The Court therefore rejected the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ and the IOM’s arguments to deny access to the financial reports on activities carried out by IOM in Libya in execution of a project financed by the Italian Government.
The Italian Government could have adequately protected privacy and safety of third parties involved simply by redacting sensitive names of individuals, companies and places, and providing the reasons thereof.
The judgement is of strategic importance, since it enables Italian civil society to learn about expenditures in humanitarian projects that United Nations agencies, including the IOM, carry out in Libya and elsewhere with Italian funding. This will provide access to more detailed data and information, making it possible to understand the exact role played by international organizations in Libya and other crisis contexts. It may also assist court cases where NGOs have requested administrative courts to rule on whether IOM’s assisted voluntary return programmes from Libya, implemented with Italian funds, are lawful.
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