In their joint letter, the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, Transparency International Hungary and K-Monitor Watchdog for Public Funds are requesting Attila Péterfalvi, President of the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information, to speak up for a new Civil Code to regulate the definition of business secret taking into account the transparency of public funds.  According to the three NGOs, the new Civil Code can significantly hinder the access to information of public interest since the bill before the Parliament does not represent any obstacle for governmental and municipal organisations to deflect any questions related to their contracts and investments by pronouncing them business secret.
The Civil Code in force states that governmental and municipal budgets and information on the use of funds from the European Commission and information on the management of governmental and municipal assets shall not be constituted as business secret.

However, this regulation would be excluded from the new Civil Code by the Bill No. T/7971. Although both the Fundamental Law of Hungary and the act on freedom of information refer to the information mentioned above as public on grounds of public interest, the absence of the relating regulation in the Civil Code can cause serious problems since implementing bodies may presume that “business secret” defined in the new Civil Code is an exception to the regulations providing for publicity. This, beyond further reducing transparency and the increasing corruption risks, can bring about uncertainty in interpretation of law, as it contradict the provisions of the Fundamental Law’s chapter on public funds. There is the risk that dozens of freedom of information litigations reach the Constitutional Court of Hungary in the form of constitutional complaints.

The three NGOs claim that it is essential to include in the new Civil Code, similarly to the present one, regulations that unambiguously set forth that the definition of business secret cannot be interpreted as containing the handling of public funds and public assets. Hence they request the President of the National Authority for Data Protection and Freedom of Information to practise his statutory right and make a proposal for the Parliament about the preservation of the current business secret regulation.

To download the letter signed by the three organisations, click here.