In the case of Nederlandse Omroep Stichting and Others v. the Netherlands, the Court held that there had been no violation of the right to receive and impart information and ideas.

The case concerned requests by two broadcasting organisations and a newspaper for the disclosure of information relating to the Dutch Government’s handling of the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in July 2014.

The Court found that the Transparency of Public Administration Act, under which the requests had been made, was based on the fundamental principle that government information should be accessible to everyone. A refusal to disclose information based on one of the grounds for refusal set out in the legislation, could, in principle, be considered to comply with the Convention.

The national authorities had refused to disclose certain (parts of) documents, including the minutes of meetings of a ministerial committee on the basis, among other things, that the discussions that had taken place in that committee were confidential. The applicant media organisations were protected by strong procedural safeguards and the Court held that the reasons relied on by the national authorities, when refusing to disclose the information in question, had been relevant and sufficient. They had not overstepped the discretion afforded to them under the Convention.

• Press release