On 10 November 2023, journalists at RIA+ / 20 minutes, a local online media outlet in the city of Ternopil, western Ukraine, said that officials at the Ternopil city council had refused to provide them with information on salaries of civil servants employed by the council, claiming that this could only be done after the end of martial law in Ukraine.
According to the media outlet, journalists had sent their information request to authorities on October 6. Four days later, the Ternopil city council said that to gather the information, it needed 20 extra working days, a time period the body was allowed to request in such situations according to Ukrainian legislation. However, in a new letter sent to RIA+ / 20 minutes on November 1, the city council said it would not provide the information due to martial law restrictions. Civil servants cited decisions by national authorities in Ukraine, which recommended avoiding “dissatisfaction due to material conditions” in times of war, as well a European Court of Human Rights decision, according to which public information can be gathered only in good faith, as arguments to refuse the request.
According to a legal expertise commissioned by RIA+ /, 20 minutes, the arguments used by the Ternopil city council were not relevant to the request made by the journalists. Lawyer Pavlo Chepuhov said that local authorities were in fact neglecting the duties bestowed upon them by Ukrainian legislation on access to public information.