2004 freedominfo.org Global Survey Results - Georgia
Text from the freedominfo.org Global Survey: Freedom of Information and Access to Government Records Around the World, by David Banisar (updated 12 May 2004)

The Constitution of Georgia includes two provisions specifying a right of access to information. (1)

Article 37(5). Individuals have the right to complete, objective and timely information on their working and living conditions.

Article 41 1. Every citizen has the right according to the law to know information about himself which exists in state institutions as long as they do not contain state, professional or commercial secrets, as well as with official records existing there. 2. Information existing in official papers connected with health, finances or other private matters of an individual are not available to other individuals without the prior consent of the affected individual, except in cases determined by law, when it is necessary for the state and public security, defense of health, rights and freedoms of others.

The Law on Freedom of Information was adopted as Chapter 3 of the General Administrative Code of Georgia in 1999 and amended in 2001. (2) It sets a general presumption that information kept, received or held by a public agency should be open. All public information should be entered into a public register in two days. The law gives anyone the right to submit a written request for public information regardless of the form that information takes and without having to state the reasons for the request. The agency must respond immediately and can only delay if the information is in another locality, is of a significant volume or is at another agency. Fees can only be applied for copying costs. The law also sets rules on the access and use of personal information.

There are exemptions for information that is protected by another law or that which is considered a state, commercial, professional or personal secret. Names of some public servants participating in a decision by an official can be withheld under executive privilege but the papers can be released. The 2001 amendment prohibits the withholding of the names of political officials.

Information relating to the environment and hazards to heath, structures and objectives of agencies, election results, results of audits and inspections, registers of information and any other information that is not state, commercial, or personal secrets cannot be classified. All public information created before 1990 is open. Agencies are also required to issue reports each year on the requests and their responses under the act.

Those whose requests have been denied can appeal internally or can ask a court to nullify an agency decision. The court can review classified information to see if it has been classified properly.

The Supreme Court ruled in June 2003 that legal fees can be obtained as damages when a requester wins a case.

The International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy conducted a national survey of public accessability of information in 2001 and found that it was still difficult for ordinary citizens to obtain information. (3) 59 percent of the responses to the requests violated the law. The survey also found low awareness of the law among officials. The US State Department in its Human Rights Report for 2002 stated, "The adoption of a freedom of information act and judicial enforcement of this law made agencies more willing to provide information. However, the Government often failed to register freedom of information act requests, as required by the administrative code." (4)

The Law on State Secrets sets rules on the classification of information where "disclosure or loss of which may inflict harm on the sovereignty, constitutional framework or political and economic interests of Georgia". (5) There are three categories with fixed terms for the length of classification "Of Extraordinary Importance"- 20 years, Top Secret - 10 years and Secret - 5 years. The State Inspection for Protection of State Secrets oversees the protection of secrets and can order declassification. A 1997 decree sets the procedures on classification. (6) Information shall be declassified no later than the end of the fixed term (unless it is extended by the President) or when it is no longer necessary to be classified.

Georgia signed the Aarhus Convention in June 1998 and ratified it in April 2000. The Law on Environmental Protection provides for a right to information about the environment and other related laws provide for public registers. (7)

Notes

1. Constitution of the Republic of Georgia, http://www.friends-partners.org/oldfriends/constitution/constitution.georgia.html

2. General Administrative Code of Georgia 2002. http://www.iris.ge/docs/translations/code_admin_general.doc. For more information see IRIS, Freedom of Information Guide, 2002. http://www.iris.ge/docs/translations/guide_foi_eng.doc

3. International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, The report on the monitoring of openness and accessibility of information, 2002.

4. US State Department, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2002- Georgia, March 2003.

5. Law On State Secrets. No. 455. 29 October 1996. http://www.iris.ge/docs/translations/law_state_secrets.doc

6. "The Procedure for Defining the Information as a State Secret and its Protection " Decree No. 42 of the President of Georgia of 1997, 21 January 1997

7. See UNECE, Environmental Performance Reviews - Georgia 2003 http://www.unece.org/env/epr/studies/georgia/