On July 21, 2020, the first court session took place against the Public Relations and Information Center of Staff of the Prime Minister on the basis of the lawsuit of the “Media Advocate” initiative. “Media Advocate” initiative demands that the Public Relations and Information Center of Staff of the Prime Minister provides the list of the employees working for them and those dismissed.
The Public Relations and Information Center SNCO refused to provide the list based on an inquiry.
The grounds for rejection were the provisions of the first sub-paragraph of the first paragraph of Article 8 of the Law on Freedom of Information. The SNCO had noted the inquiry of “Media Advocate” Initiative contains personal data.
On the basis of receiving the list of names, “Media Advocate” initiative applied to the court; on the same basis, it also applied to the RA Agency for Protection of Personal Data.
On February 10, 2020, the Agency for Protection of Personal Data of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Armenia made a decision, according to which the publication of the lists of registered permanent or dismissed employees by the CSTO SNCO will be carried out in accordance with the paragraph 4 of the Article 7 (3) of the Law on Freedom of Information or on the basis of a request, insofar as it does not contain the information provided in Article 8 (1) of the Law on Freedom of Information and does not contradict the RA Law on Personal Data Protection.
The representative of the PRIC SNCO did not appear at the first court session. The next court session will take place on October 7.
