Clearance Appeals in Georgia

Clearance Appeals

How is a classification appealed?

Before the court, demanding annulment or amendment, with compensation of property and non-property damage; the burden of proof lies on the authority.

Does the court see classified information?

Yes, it requests and examines it to study lawfulness; on a party's motion the examination is held in closed session.

Who examines the administrative complaint?

The issuing organ where a superior exists; for a head's act, the superior administrative organ.

Within what period must the complaint be examined?

Within one month; extension by a reasoned decision for up to one month, declared within 7 days of the start.

4 min·8 Feb 2026

The Right to Appeal in Court

A person facing a decision connected with state secrets has an effective legal remedy: the right to apply to the court demanding the annulment or amendment of a decision of a public institution, a state or public official, and also to claim compensation of property and non-property damage. This right is particularly important upon refusal to release public information, upon full or partial closure of a session of a collegial public institution, upon classification of public information, as well as upon the creation and processing of incorrect public information or breach of other requirements of the chapter. The decisive procedural precondition is the allocation of the burden of proof: it lies on the responding public institution, state or public official — it is the authority that must prove the lawfulness of the refusal or classification, not the citizen its groundlessness.