20 October 2021
ZUG publishes “Safe Crossing”, a crowd-sourced dataset demonstrating that over a third of pedestrian crossings in Luxembourg-City are unsafe and non-compliant with the law. In fact, parking spots are too close to many crosswalks, obstructing the view on pedestrians and putting them in danger.
15 November 2021
ZUG’s Safe Crossing dataset is discussed during Luxembourg-City’s City Council meeting due to a motion of “déi Lénk”. At the meeting, Patrick Goldschmidt, alderman for mobility, claims that based on the City’s own analysis, only 32 crossings are non-compliant (later revised to 37). The matter is then deferred to the Urban Transport Advisory Committee.
18 November 2021
ZUG drafts an official statement as a response to the discussions at the City Council meeting. In the statement, ZUG defends its data and requests insight into the City’s own analysis. The statement is sent to Patrick Goldschmidt. It remains unanswered.
2 December 2021
After the deferral of the matter to the Urban transport Advisory Committee, a meeting of the committee is held during which the “Safe Crossing” dataset is discussed. At the meeting, the officials were now speaking about 37 non-compliant crossings, opposed to 32 at the city council meeting, without explanation. There are no action points or new data coming out of the meeting, which was basically a simple presentation of the City’s unlawful internal guidelines for the setup of pedestrian crossings.
6 December 2021
ZUG submits a formal “freedom of information” (FOI) request documents to the City of Luxembourg. The requested documents are, amongst others, the City’s own analysis of all pedestrian crossings as mentioned at the City Council meeting of 15 November 2021 and the location of the 37 crossings the City itself considers to be unsafe. The City has one month to respond, the deadline is the 6 January 2022.
5 January 2022
On the eve of the deadline, the City of Luxembourg exercises the option foreseen by the law to extend the deadline once by an additional month. As reasons, the City mentions the “complexity of the task” as well as the need to “anonymise personal data”.
28 January 2022
The City of Luxembourg answers to ZUG’s FOI request and refuses to provide almost all documents, except for its internal, unlawful guidelines for the setup of pedestrian crossings.
8 February 2022
ZUG lodges an appeal over the City of Luxembourg’s refusal to provide the requested documents with the “Commission d’accès aux documents” (CAD). The commission has 2 months to issue an opinion on the matter.
2 March 2022
The CAD overwhelmingly rules in favour of ZUG (Avis R-1/2022). In its decision, the CAD declares virtually all documents requested by ZUG fit for publishing.
21 March 2022 and 1 April 2022
ZUG sends first and second reminders to the City of Luxembourg, demanding they abide by the CAD’s decision and publish the requested documents.
6 April 2022
The City of Luxembourg officially confirms its refusal to comply with the CAD’s ruling, meaning that it will withhold its own analysis of pedestrian crossings as well as the other requested documents from the eyes of the public.
28 June 2022
ZUG steps up its fight for transparency and consults with legal counsel Thewes & Reuter in order to contest the City of Luxembourg’s refusal to publish the documents in front of the administrative court.
Winning this appeal would set an important precedent to make administrations more transparent and accountable.
18 July 2022
ZUG publicly announces that it has filed its appeal with the admnistrative court.
An open-ended crowdfunding campaign is launched to help ZUG cover its legal fees.
As per the court procedure, each party will be able to formulate two statements of defense: first ZUG (the appeal), then the City of Luxembourg, then again ZUG, and finally the City of Luxembourg.
5 December 2022
Through its legal counsel, the City of Luxembourg confirms in its first statement of defense that it will not publish the requested documents. Essentially, the City redevelops its existing justification for withholding the information without bringing in any new worthwhile elements.
5 January 2023
ZUG’s legal counsel files its second statement of defense.
6 February 2023
The City of Luxembourg submits its final statement of defense.
28 December 2023
Federico and Thorben, ZUG board members, present Safe Crossing at the 37. Chaos Communication Congress, the biggest European hacker conference, organized by the Chaos Computer Club, in Hamburg. You can re-watch the talk here.
17 April 2024
The administrative court fixes 17 April 2024 as the date for the final pleas by both parties, after which a judge will make a decision in the matter.
September 2024
The administrative court moves the 17 April 2024 as the date for the final pleas by both parties, after which a judge will make a decision in the matter, to September 2024.
11 November 2024
Victory for Transparency: The Tribunal administratif rules in favor of ZUG, ordering the City of Luxembourg to release its safety assessments on pedestrian crossings and rejecting the City’s broad confidentiality claims. This landmark ruling emphasizes that public safety data must be accessible to residents and reinforces public accountability.
Read the judgement
Read the press release
12 November 2024
ZUG celebrates the legal victory and calls on the City to release the documents without delay, ensuring a safer, more transparent urban environment for all residents.