Cease and Desist Order Issued Against German FOI Portal "Frag den Staat"

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 German Ministry of the Interior has issued Frag den Staat, (a German FOI portal run by the Open Knowledge Foundation Germany) with a cease and desist order, for publishing a document on EU party quotas which they obtained under the FOI law.


Below is the English translation from the Frag den Staat blog. Please republish and lend your support. Access to data is supported by the ODI, OKF, the OGP and many other world wide organizations.

Cease and desist by the German government for publishing a document received under FOI law


The German Federal Ministry of the Interior has sent a cease and desist order to the Freedom of Information (FOI) portal FragDenStaat.de for publishing a document received under the German federal FOI law. The document – a five page study written by government staff – analyses a ruling by the German constitutional court in November 2011 which declared the 5% party quota for the European Parliament elections as unconstitutional. The study concludes that setting any such quota would be unconstitutional according to the ruling. Despite this a recent change in election law set the party quota to 3%.

When the study in question was received from the Ministry of the Interior through an FOI request on FragDenStaat.de, the ministry prohibited publication of the document on copyright grounds. FragDenStaat.de has decided to publish the document anyway to take a stand against this blatant misuse of copyright. The government sent a cease and desist letter shortly after. The Open Knowledge Foundation Germany as the legal entity behind FragDenStaat.de is refusing to comply with the cease and desist order, and is looking forward to a court decision that will strengthen freedom of speech, freedom of the press and freedom of information rights in Germany.

The campaign site with all documents and press release in German

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