Court rules against Finance Ministry in transparency lawsuit
A Beijing court has ruled in favour of a lawyer in his lawsuit against the Ministry of Finance, and ordered it to disclose publicly information it claimed were "state secrets". Lawyers hailed the verdict as a victory for transparency and the rule of law on the mainland.
A Beijing court has ruled in favour of a lawyer in his lawsuit against the Ministry of Finance, and ordered it to disclose publicly information it claimed were "state secrets".
Starting in May of last year, the Finance Ministry has tacked 50 yuan (HK$63) on to the price of domestic air tickets and 90 yuan to international ones, with the money going to a government aviation development fund, Xinhua reported.
Wang Luchun felt the extra charge was unfair and, the following month, requested as a private citizen that the Finance Ministry make public its reasons for the fees and how they were used in the development fund, according to the Xinhua report.
In June 2012, the ministry wrote him a letter denying his request, saying the information was a state secret. Wang took the ministry to court.
He said he believed that the government should treat public disclosure of official information as the norm in light of a law on the matter enacted in 2008.
He felt there should be a "clear legal basis to justify the classification of information as state secrets", Xinhua said.