Journal of the Charles University Law Faculty
Tomáš Král
Author’s affiliation:
Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague
Limitations of the right to information on the judicial decision-making process
Jurisprudence 6/2017 Section: Articles Page: 18-29
Keywords: right to information; limitations of fundamental rights; authority of the judiciary; Act on the Free Access to Information; information on the judicial decision-making process
Abstract: There has not yet been paid much attention to the right to information on the judicial decision-making process and its limitations in the literature. Yet it is an issue that concerns a major clash of a fundamental right and the public interest. This article aims to analyze this topic and, in particular, interpret Sec. 11 para. 4 letter b) of the Act on the Free Access to Information, which is the most important statutory limitation, taking into account the purpose of the right to information and its constitutional roots. Apart from many partial conclusions, this article concludes that the grounds on which the right to information can be limited must either be found in Art. 17 para. 4 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms or it must be the case of the so-called implied limitations that can be justified, in accordance with the case law of the Constitutional Court, by the public interest in maintaining either authority, impartiality, or independence of the judiciary.
