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26/08/2022

Prosecutor’s Opposition to Greenpeace’s Appeal at the Supreme Court of Spain (Ordinary)

Appears in case: Complaint Against the Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism Through an ‘Ordinary Administrative Procedure’

Jurisdiction

Spain

Locale

Armed Conflict in Yemen

Recipient State

Saudi Arabia

Document Type

Government Submissions

The Prosecutor opposes the claimant’s appeal filed at the Supreme Court. It concludes that there is no reason to depart from High Court decision and that the appeal should be dismissed.

The Prosecutor addresses the two matters under consideration – firstly whether the limits to article 20(1)(d) of the Spanish constitution, protecting the right to freedom of information, can include those established by article 14(1)(a), (b) and (h) of Law 19/2013 namely national security, defence and commercial interests, and second the scope of the classification of documents as classified in relation to this right.

It states that the limits under Law 2019/2013 cannot be included in the framework of Art (20)(4) Spanish Constitution. However, it argues that article 20(1)(d) of the Spanish Constitution would not be infringed by the denial of administrative information on arms exports and that this would fall under the right of access to administrative files and records under Article 105(b) of the constitution. It reasons that scrutiny of the matter at hand, both with respect to the limits of the right to information and the classification of documents as secret, is a question of ‘ordinary legality’ to be resolved outside the special procedure for the protection of fundamental rights.