Judge Laura Taylor Swain, who is presiding Puerto Rico's bankruptcy case, ruled against Governor Ricardo Rosselló and remitted Senator Eduardo Bhatia's lawsuit to the local courts. The Popular Democratic Party (PDP) leader had filed a mandamus action to request the publication of the national budget drafts submitted for the Fiscal Control Board's (FCB) approval.

This lawsuit demands transparency in the disclosure of the national budget, something the Senate Minority Leader had previously requested from Rosselló.

This action is one out of four pending claims seeking access to budget information, and to other documents regarding the demands the FCB made to the government, the FCB member appointments, and their operations. Senator Rosanna López and the Center for Investigative Journalism have pending claims, and in the Center's case, both the Board and the governor have raised similar arguments to the ones considered by Swain in Bhatia's case.

The judge's decision in Bhatia's case does not mean that the documents will be delivered. This only means that it is not she, nor the Federal Court, who should resolve this dispute; it should rather be the local courts, because it is a case of law under the Constitution of Puerto Rico. Upon the case's return to the local courts, this forum will proceed to decide on its merits and if the documents should be delivered.

The judge's ruling statements, however, provide a basis to get to know her opinion on the topic of information access, and it shows the Board and the government in a bad light, since it debunks the theory that every request for information about the government's budget and Fiscal Plan has to be seen within the bankruptcy case.

'The (governor's) theory is flawed,' the judge concluded, emphasizing that 'no provision of PROMESA addresses access to such draft documents,' referring to the budget documents requested by Bhatia.

'Although litigation outside the Title III Proceeding, over rights of access to financial documents developed by the Commonwealth under PROMESA, could complicate the prosecution of the Title III Proceeding, there has been no showing that the outcome of the litigation regarding access to the documents could affect the Commonwealth's rights, liabilities or freedom of action, or otherwise conceivably have an effect on the adjustment of its debts or treatment of its property, in the context of this Title III Proceeding,' Swain said in her decision.

For his part, Bhatia seemed satisfied with Judge Swain's ruling.

'I receive Judge Swain's determination with hope, because with it, we are one step closer to the right to know and to transparency in public documents. With her ruling, the judge embraced our arguments about her lack of jurisdiction over the right to information, and she stipulated that the Court of First Instance of Puerto Rico should resolve the case. We will continue with our legal action in the local courts, and we reiterate our request to the governor to abandon his subterfuge to avoid providing information. We say to him and all government units: be transparent. It is the only way to avoid losing any further credibility before our creditors, the world, and our people,' Senator Eduardo A. Bhatia declared after Swain's determination.

This proceeding corresponds to the legal action brought by the Mandamus filed on May 4, 2017 presenting a demand for the governor to disclose the budget submitted to the FCB on April 30, 2017, which has not been made public. After the Mandamus was filed in the Court of First Instance in San Juan, Governor Ricardo Rosselló requested to have the case moved to the Federal Court. Judge Swain considered this petition and denied it.