Recurrent: Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation

Resolution appealed: R/0213/2022

In exercise of his right of access to information, a citizen submitted a request to the MINISTRY OF ECONOMIC AFFAIRS AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION to have the agendas and minutes of all the meetings of the plenary of the Commission for the Prevention of Money Laundering (and other bodies), held from 1 January 2015 to the present.

The Administration issued a resolution denying access because it understood that there is a specific legal regime for access to information established in Law 10/2010, of April 28, on the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism and in Royal Decree 304/2014, of May 5, which approves its Development Regulations, excluding the application of the Transparency Law. It is also noted that this specific regulation establishes confidentiality and the duty of secrecy in line with the provisions of Directive EU 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering.

The Council of Transparency and Good Governance, having submitted a complaint pursuant to the provisions of Article 24 LTAIBG, considers it, first, that the aforementioned Law 10/2010, of April 28, does not constitute a specific legal regime of the right of access to information that displaces the regulation of the Law of Transparency. With regard to the substance of the issue, it is recalled that there is a consolidated criterion in favour of access to the minutes of the collegiate bodies of management of public sector bodies and entities, following the elimination, where appropriate, of personal data that allow the identification of natural persons who are not part of the collegiate body and whose identification is not relevant for the purposes of monitoring the performance of public authorities; as well as of the opinions and statements made by its members in the deliberations that affect the confidentiality or secrecy required in the formation of will of the collegiate body, a criterion endorsed by the judgment of the Supreme Court (STS) of 19 February 2021 (ECLI:704:2021).