Is it darker in a larger courtroom? On the relationship between the size of regional court and exercising the right to public information in Poland

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the text is to analyze response letters from all Polish regional courts to requests submitted under the administrative procedure for accessing public information. Design/Methodology/Approach: Based on the data on response letters received from regional courts and the court-sized quartiles, we studied whether there were considerable differences in response quality. We tested the hypothesis using Chi-square. Findings: The outcomes show that larger courts that, as proven by other research, are in principle characterized by higher judiciary effectiveness, less often provide complete public information. That also means that courts, which are more focused on their primary functions' performance, show the lower performance of secondary administrative tasks such as public information disclosure. Practical Implications: This result has got many practical implications because courts are amongst the entities obliged to provide public information. Originality/Value: It is an article of its kind trying to shed light in an issue which is not very well examined so far.