Restriction of the right to access to public information under martial law

Abstract

Article 64 of the Constitution of Ukraine defines a list of human rights and freedoms that may be restricted under martial law to protect the national security and territorial integrity of Ukraine, including the right to access information. This provision corresponds to Part 3 of Article 34 of the Constitution of Ukraine, Part 1 of Article 8 of the Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law".
 Due to the military aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the dissemination of information about the activities of state authorities and their employees, including courts and justice system bodies, can impose a threat to their life and health, cause crimes to be committed and be a threat to national security, and therefore can subject to restrictions by law.
 The article examines the grounds and conditions for restricting the right to access the public information under martial law; special attention is paid to the issue of restricting access to public information at the disposal of the courts and the State Judicial Administration of Ukraine.
 The author analyzed statistical data on the number of submitted requests for obtaining public information, cases of filing complaints about illegal actions of managers of public information when considering requests since the introduction of martial law on the territory of Ukraine.
 The article proves that since the Law of Ukraine "On the Legal Regime of Martial Law" does not provide for a direct possibility to establish any prohibitions or restrictions on the fulfillment of the duties of managers in considering requests or disclosing public information, when deciding the issue of limiting or providing access to that or other information in the conditions of martial law, the need to maintain an appropriate balance between the protected interest of a specific person and public interests and the application of the established practices to approve the request remain.
 The article also explores the possibility of restricting the dissemination of restricted information during martial law, which is socially necessary, when the public's right to know this information outweighs the potential harm from its dissemination.