The Committee on National Security and Defense has published all the hearings on its site after Civil Network OPORA instituted a court action against the VRU Apparatus after it refused to provide copies of meeting minutes.
The official site of the VRU contains a list of information, which should be available for the citizens. In particular, hearings of the VRU Committees, with links to their sites. However, not all the committees have web-sites, where they could have published information about their meetings.
In January, OPORA has sent requests for information to Secretariats of the VRU committees, asking to provide all copies of hearings held by the Committees created by the Parliament of VII convocation. Almost all the Secretariats have provided copies of hearings. However, the Committee on National Security and Defense refused to provide copies of protocols. The refusal contained and explanation, that the VRU Apparatus doesn't administer information, "which can be received through generalization of analytical data processing or needs to be created in other way."
On April 10, OPORA has filed a lawsuit against the Kyiv District Administrative Court demanding to recognize the refusal to provide copies of hearings of the Committee on National Security and Defense, given by the VRU Apparatus, as unlawful, as long as such refusal is against the Law of Ukraine on Access to Public Information, and to oblige the Apparatus provide these hearings.
The court sitting on this case in scheduled for July 11. However, the Committee stated to publish hearings on its site in April already.
Valerii Korniiko, OPORA's lawyer "Besides the fact that hearings of all sittings of the Committee were published on the site of the Committee on National Security and Defense, the defendant has also sent copies of all the hearings to the Civil Network OPORA. It's a shame that information administrators provide information only after the inquirer files a lawsuit against them, and we hope that such practice won't become widespread.”