Europäischer Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte (Erste Sektion) – Šeks gegen Republik Kroatien Nr. 39325/20 – Urteil vom 03.02.2022

In its Chamber judgment in the case of Šeks v. Croatia (Application No. 39325/20) of 3 February 2022, the ECtHR unanimously found that the denial of an access request aimed at the subsequent publication of secret presidential files held by the Croatian State Archive did not constitute a violation of Article 10 ECHR. In doing so, the Court noted that, on the one hand, the applicant's access request had already been granted for the most part in the administrative proceedings. On the other hand, the non-disclosure of the additional documents was based on a decision of the Croatian President further to an opinion of an expert body charged with national security questions, which had been reviewed and confirmed by the Information Commissioner, the Supreme Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court. It concluded that the interference with the applicant's right of free access to information had been necessary and proportionate in view of the important objective of national security and was within the remit of the State's wide discretion to decide on such issues. Furthermore, the subsequent independent domestic review of his application had provided him with sufficient procedural safeguards.