The obligation of church legal entities to disclose public information in connection with the running of religious cemeteries: A commentary to the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of December 4, 2020 (I OSK 125/19)
Abstract
The present paper outlines the analysis of the judgment of the Supreme Administrative Court of December 4, 2020 (I OSK 125/19). The commented judgment is one of the series of judgments passed by administrative courts in connection with the activity of the organization „Sieć Obywatelska – Watchdog”, which in May 2018 formally requested access to public information from over 30 selected parishes in Poland. The main purpose of the requests was to obtain information on the fees and charges related to cemetery services, the amount of money earned as well as the number of buried individuals. The case law pertaining to the requests has been varied. Some of the claims made by the courts are discussed in this paper, which hopefully contributes to a broader understanding of the complexity of issues connected with running cemeteries by church legal entities. In conclusion, the author provides an assessment of the relevant responsibilities of Roman Catholic parishes as entities running religious cemeteries. He takes the view that the obligation to disclose public information applies only to cases where, in the absence of a communal cemetery, people who did not identify with the Catholic Church are buried at a Catholic cemetery.
Keywords:
access to public information, religious cemeteries, municipal cemeteriesReferences
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War Studies University
Dr hab. prof. ASzWoj, Katedra Prawa Publicznego i Prywatnego, Instytut Prawa, Akademia Sztuki Wojennej, Al. gen. Antoniego Chruściela 103, 00-910 Warszawa
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3880-017XLicense
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