Freedom of Information in Relation to Private Companies

A comparative law research project prepared by Oxford Pro Bono Publico for the Hungarian CivilLiberties Union

OPBP volunteers discuss the HCLU project.

The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU), a leading human rights NGO, sought OPBP’s assistance in carrying out comparative research on the application of freedom of information (FOI) laws to state-owned companies in various jurisdictions. The Hungarian legal provisions on FOI are unclear as regards the status of state-owned companies; due to this ambiguity, the Hungarian Supreme Court issued judgments which dramatically narrowed the scope of the FOI legislation. One consequence was that state-owned companies became able to successfully decline FOI requests. HCLU requested this research from OPBP for use in its strategic litigation activities.

You can read the full report below, or download it here. You can also browse all OPBP’s projects here.