On June 19, representatives of the public stated that they were not allowed to attend the 52nd regular session of Dnipro City Council. A similar thing had happened almost a month ago, on May 22.  

After the first statements of activists about the non-admission in May, we appealed to Dnipro City Council for explanations of the reasons for denying public representatives access to the meeting. On June 18, we received an official response from the local authorities and, unfortunately, did not find an exhaustive explanation why the citizens were not allowed to attend the 50th session.  

However, representatives of the public attended the meeting of the 49th session. According to the city council, the activists were also invited to the 51st online session. So, although the non-admission of citizens to the meeting was not widespread, it still took place. 

It appears that the behavior of some members of the public can sometimes go beyond the law or ethics. Citizens must also take into account the requirements of the law and the internal rules of local authorities, unless the former contradict the law. Sessions of the council are held in public, but the procedure for access to meetings is determined by the council in accordance with the law. 

It is unfortunate that the authorities and the public fail to establish a dialogue because it is on their close interaction that the coherence and transparency of processes in the city depend. It is important that both parties comply with the law and try to communicate for the public good.

The right of citizens to access a session of the city council is guaranteed by the Law on Local Self-Government. However, under martial law, neither the local council nor the mayor have the authority to restrict the access of citizens to sessions in general, except for when it is a legal requirement, related to information that concerns national security interests, territorial integrity, or public order, and its disclosure is significantly detrimental to these interests. In such cases, access may be restricted, but only for the period of considering or discussing such information.

In addition, unreasonable classification of information as information with restricted access is a violation of the law, and the official responsible for access to public information may be held administratively liable. Citizens may appeal against violations in the field of access to information at their own choice, either to the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine or to the administrative court.

The Transparent Cities program, for its part, is ready to contribute to establishing an honest dialogue between citizens and the authorities. Our experts can, upon request, advise citizens on whether the city council's internal rules on access to meetings are contrary to the law and are justified due to security risks and provide recommendations on how to proceed. We are also ready to advise city councils in the field of ensuring transparent and proper access for citizens to the activities of city authorities.  

We would like to believe that the citizens, the authorities, and our program as an independent expert organization are capable of finding tools to build a dialogue based on mutual respect and the requirements of the law.