Communicated on 13 October 2016

FIFTH SECTION

Application no. 28203/10
Fariz NAMAZLI
against Azerbaijan
lodged on 4 May 2010

STATEMENT OF FACTS

The applicant, Mr Fariz Mubariz oglu Namazli, is an Azerbaijani national, who was born in 1982 and lives in Baku. He is represented before the Court by Mr R. Hajili, a lawyer practising in Baku.

A. The circumstances of the case

The facts of the case, as submitted by the applicant, may be summarised as follows.

The applicant was working as a lawyer at the Media Rights Institute, a non-governmental organisation (NGO) dealing with various projects relating to freedom of information and freedom of expression.

On 28 November 2008 the applicant asked the head of the Binagadi District Executive Authority (“the BDEA”) for information concerning the yearly budget of the Binagadi District for 2008, the amount of funds received by the BDEA in the first half of 2008, and copies of documents concerning the BDEA’s expenditure from the budget and other funds in the first half of 2008. According to the applicant, his request was part of the research he was conducting into local executive authorities’ compliance with their obligation to provide public access to information relating to the formulation and execution of their respective budgets.

By a letter of 17 December 2008 the deputy head of the BDEA responded that it was not within the BDEA’s competence to provide the type of information requested to any individual, organisation or company.

The applicant lodged an action with the Binagadi District Court. Relying on various provisions of, inter alia, the Constitution and the Law on Access to Information, he requested the court to order the BDEA to provide the requested information.

By a judgment of 25 February 2009 the Binagadi District Court dismissed the applicant’s claim, finding that the information requested by the applicant was not of the type that information holders were obligated to disclose under the Law on Access to Information.

The appl