Judgment on HCAV v. RA Ministry of Finance to be announced on February 22
12:38, February 3, 2016 | News, Own news | Freedom of Information and Speech
On February 2, 2016, the RA Administrative Court, presided by A. Avagyan, held a hearing of case HCA Vanadzor v. RA Ministry of Finance with the claim to compel the Ministry to provide the required information.
The court hearing was attended by HCA Vanadzor lawyer Ani Chatinyan, representative of plaintiff Artur Sakunts, Chairman of HCA Vanadzor, and Anush Gharibyan, representative of the RA Ministry of Finance.
A. Chatinyan insisted on the claim, and A. Gharibyan, defendant’s representative, objected to it.
In her opening remarks, A. Chatinyan mentioned that HCA Vanadzor had filed with the RA Ministry of Finance an inquiry on the procedure for estimating the customs clearance charges for the vehicle of the person who consulted the Organization, the relevant legal act and taxes included in the estimated amount. The inquiry also required that a copy of the database was provided. In its response letter, the RA Ministry of Finance, agency in possession of the information required, particularly stated that the list of the fees available at the customs agency database of vehicles moved over the RA customs border is published in a summarized version and submitted to the specialized customs house for vehicle clearance in the special place intended for such purposes. A. Chatinyan noted that the failure to provide a complete response to the Organization’s inquiry violated the Organization’s right to freedom of information and required the Court to uphold the claim in question.
A. Gharibyan, representative of the RA Ministry of Finance, objected to the claim noting that the Ministry had provided the entire information required, and the details of the database were published at the specialized customs house for vehicle clearance under the procedures established by the Customs Union Code and RA Law on Customs Regulations.
Afterwards, the Court passed to examination of the evidence, and then having heard the positions of the parties on insisting on the claim and objecting to it, considered the trial examination complete.
The Court will announce its ruling on February 22, 2016, 5 pm.