On July 21, 2010, the St.-Petersburg City Court will review the cassation appeal of the St.-Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast Head Department of the Ministry for Justice against a lower-instance court decision on the IIFD’s claim that considers a warning made by the Department unlawful.

St.-Petersburg City Court
16, Fontanka River Embankment, St.-Petersburg
Room 214, 12.00

An inspection held in a NGO by the Ministry for Justice usually ends in a strict warning and then leads to the NGO liquidation. NGOs are usually afraid to argue with the justice ministry. But the experience of the IIFD and the Regional Press Institute showsЖ courage can move mountains – or courts.

On April 7, 2010, the Oktyabrsky district court considered the Ministry’s warning against the IIFD unlawful. This is a unique decision since NGOs always lost previous cases of the same kind. At last, the consequence of “copied and pasted” warnings and court decisions is broken.

Some remarks of the government body have baffled the IIFD lawyers. For example, the Ministry’s officials claimed that the organization, a non-commercial partnership, does not assist its members in their activities – having not even asked what activities the IIFD members perform.

The IIFD’s activity arises not only positive emotions in government bodies. Our NGO won several rather loud court cases – for example, when seven federal ministries and services were obliged to launch and to update their official websites or when the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology was obliged to provide free access to national standards’ texts. The first Russian FOI act is also approved thanks to the IIFD’s activities.