Why are we crowdfunding?
We need your help to fight for real transparency from the City of Luxembourg!
After the release of our Safe Crossing project, ZUG was hoping for swift collaboration from the City of Luxembourg to remediate the lack of safety of some pedestrian crossings in the city.
However, the City of Luxembourg has refuted the findings of ZUG’s project and has hidden the results of their own analysis and little has been done to increase the safety of the most vulnerable road users.
ZUG wants to step up its fight for transparency and has taken legal actions 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.
Why should I donate? How does this concern me?
Good administration: The administration is handling the situation in an opaque manner, against the spirit of a modern and transparent public body. The immediate result is a lack of accountability: shortcomings resulting from the administration’s decisions remain secret or unverifiable. None of the data ZUG has requested is sensitive in any way that could preclude the city from making the information public. The City of Luxembourg’s arguments for refusal to provide the documents rely on bad faith and misinterpretations of applicable legislation.
Equality: It is unacceptable for the city to hide its decision-making process when it affects us all. Refusing to communicate documents turns citizens into subjects. This shows a deep disregard for a healthy public discourse and a democratic process. This abusive handling of requests for information doesn’t affect only ZUG, but every citizen and group that will file similar requests in the future, against public bodies of any type or any political colour.
Pedestrian safety: In 2019, 54 pedestrians were injured on the streets of Luxembourg City; 11 were heavily injured. Many of the injuries happened at pedestrian crossings. ZUG has detected 475 potentially dangerous crossings, and the city has defensively deflected and shifted blame. We want the sunlight of publication to disinfect the city’s unacceptable decision-making process to make the streets safer for all.
Set a precedent: We hope that the court decision will be a reference for future information requests that will make it harder for administrations to shy away from their responsibilities. Courts have not seen many cases in this field since parliament passed the law in 2018, and we are hoping to set an example.
If you are considering donating to ZUG, please click here to find out how.