Official Journal of the European Union

C 32/14

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(Case C-576/12 P)

2013/C 32/19

Language of the case: French

Parties

Appellant: Ivan Jurašinović (represented by: N. Amara-Lebret, avocate)

Other party to the proceedings: Council of the European Union

Form of order sought

The appellant claims that the Court should:

—set aside the decision under appeal, refer the case back to the General Court or, failing this;

—annul the decision of 22 September 2009 by which the applicant was granted only partial access to the following documents: reports of the European Union observers present in Croatia, in the Knin area, of 1 August to 31 August 1995;

—order the Council of the European Union to authorise access, in electronic form, to all the documents requested;

—order the Council of the European Union to pay the applicant the sum of EUR 8 000 not including charges for litigation costs with interest at the ECB rate until the date of registration of the application.

Pleas in law and main arguments

In support of his appeal, the appellant puts forward three grounds of appeal.

Firstly, the appellant takes the view that the General Court infringed the general principle of the right to a fair trial, since it could not have legitimately ruled on the application without having previously examined the documents to which access was requested.

Secondly, the applicant raises the infringement of Articles 9(1) and 4(1)(a) of Regulation No 1049/2001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2001 regarding public access to European Parliament, Council and Commission documents, because, while Article 4(1)(a) provides that it is possible to refuse access to a document undermining the public interest as regards international relations, such a refusal cannot be founded on the sensitive nature of documents which, since they have not been classified, are not entitled to protection under Article 9(1).

Thirdly, the appellant alleges that the General Court erred in law concerning the existence of an earlier disclosure of the documents. In so far as the communication drawn up between the Council and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia may have as its basis only Regulation No 1049/2001, the existence of an earlier disclosure, to the benefit of a defendant, of European Union citizenship, in the context of criminal proceedings pending before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, required that the application be granted.

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Language of the case: French.

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