Abstract
The Act on access to public information is a normative act which reinforces the act of citizens
expressed in the Art. 61 of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland to control the authorities
and entities performing public functions. It is said that this is one of the fundamental rights
of a political nature since its use creates the opportunity for requesting entities to directly
learn about the activities of bodies performing public tasks and independently determine
whether they are rational, which later may translate into specific voting decisions. Information
or knowledge is therefore an intrinsic value. In the jurisprudence of administrative courts, the
desire to guarantee the widest possible access to public information is visible, because it is an
important guarantee of transparency of public life in a democratic state. On the other hand,
the aforementioned transparency should be combined with values such as truth, human wellbeing
or justice which ought to be taken into account in the actions of the authorities. From
the perspective of this transparency and universal nature of the discussed legal institution,
the concept of abuse of access to public information is an interesting issue that has appeared
in the jurisprudence of administrative courts. According to the jurisprudence, it consists of
an attempt to use access to public information to satisfy the curiosity of the person making
the request or to settle his (personal) matters with his personal interests. It is emphasized
that such actions may hinder or even prevent the implementation of the basic tasks of the
requested authority, therefore the value (in the form) of the generally understood public good
suffers. This article attempts to present the issue of the values underlying of the right of access
to public information. The paper shows how administrative courts weigh the values behind
the construction of access to public information against others, with a particular focus on
protecting the public interest. The analysis was carried out on the basis of the jurisprudence
of administrative courts and took into consideration the position of the doctrine.