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RCA 397. Technical reports on environment (flora and fauna)

Recurrent: Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge

Resolution appealed: R CTBG 0149/2025

In exercise of the right of access to public information, the MINISTRY FOR ECOLOGICAL TRANSITION AND DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE was requested, access to the reports issued by the previous Scientific Authority in Spain of the CITES [which was until 2.1.2022 the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO)] for the Spanish Administrative Authority CITES [which was the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism (MINCOTUR)], for the purpose of issuing the CITES certificates to specimens of protected species in Spain; as well as clarifying the irregularities of the species.

The MITECO issued a resolution in which, after showing that the information requested is of an environmental nature —applying the specific legal regime established in Law 27/2006, of July 18, which regulates the rights of access to information, public participation and access to justice in environmental matters (LAIMA) and, alternatively, the LTAIBG— the inadmissibility of the application is agreed ex article 13.1.e) LAIMA, because it refers to internal communications between the Administrations involved.

In its claim, the requesting association expresses its discrepancy regarding the qualification of the information requested in the first three questions related to reports between the scientific authority (MITECO) and the administrative authority as internal communications in accordance with the provisions of article 13.1 of the aforementioned Law 27/2006.

The Council considers the complaint, recalling its consolidated doctrine that denies the nature of internal communications to reports whose purpose is to “objectify and assess, even sectorally, relevant aspects to be reported” (SAN of July 25, 2017 (ECLI:ES:AN:2017:3357), as happens in this case in which such reports are legally foreseen and do not have an exclusively internal scope, but a technical nature on which decisions in this field are based.

Therefore, it is concluded that article 13.1.e) LAIMA does not apply and the claim is estimated.