The law connected with state secrets in Georgia is a precise set of concepts: classification, term, registry, publication and judicial control. The Law on Public Information arranges these concepts in Articles 30, 31, 33, 42 and 48, and exactly these articles determine which information may be protected from disclosure, for how long, how that is declared and what may not be concealed at all. This page describes each pillar with its article — the question of access is read within this frame as the practical application of the balance between transparency and protection.
Conditions for a Classification Decision
The law of access to state secrets begins with the question of when classification is permissible at all. Under Article 30, a decision on classifying public information may be taken only where the law establishes a direct requirement to protect it from disclosure, sets specific criteria of protection and contains an exhaustive list of information to be protected. These three conditions together form the guarantee: if any of them is absent, the classification is unlawful and appealable. Checking them in practice means establishing whether a specific law directly names the information, by what criteria it is protected and whether the disputed material falls within the list — any doubt is resolved in favour of transparency.
The Term of Classification and the Public Registry
Article 31 regulates the rule of the term: save for cases provided by law, professional and commercial information is classified indefinitely; a commercial secret must nevertheless be declared open once it no longer has the value for which it was considered such — the principle of temporality thus protects freedom of information in the commercial sphere. Decisions on the classification of public information and on the extension of its term are entered in the public registry, which ensures transparency: any interested person can learn which information is classified and for what term. The registry entry gives a person a practical instrument as well: they can learn in good time that the term has expired and demand the disclosure of the information; registry data also carry evidentiary weight in a dispute.
Publication After Declassification
Article 33 regulates the duty that follows the removal of classification: after information is removed from classification, any separable part of secret public information, or of the protocol of a closed session of a collegial public institution, must be published within reasonable limits. The publication indicates the person who classified the information, the ground for considering it secret and the term of classification — preserving a trace and the possibility of accountability. This norm ensures that after declassification society receives the maximum possible information, and it disciplines the procedure of declassification itself.
Information That Cannot Be Classified
Article 42 establishes the list of information everyone has the right to know and whose concealment is excluded: information on the environment and on dangers threatening life or health; the basic principles and directions of a public institution’s activity; the description of its structure, the functions of officials and the decision-making procedure; the identity and official address of officials engaged in classification or public relations; the results of open voting in a collegial institution; all information connected with the election of a person to an elective office; audit conclusions and court materials where the institution is a party; the name and location of public databases, the responsible person and the data protection officer; the purposes, fields of use and legal grounds of data collection, processing, storage and dissemination; the existence or absence of one’s personal data in a public database, the procedure for access and the identification procedure; the categories of persons entitled to access, and data on the composition and sources of the base; and any other information not deemed secret by law. A refusal of such information can never be lawful: the list is built so that the person’s interest in information prevails over the authority’s own convenience.
Judicial Control and Its Form
To resolve a dispute, Article 48 gives the court the right to request and examine classified public information for the purpose of studying the lawfulness of its classification in whole or in part; on a party’s motion the court conducts this examination in a closed session. This norm completes the balance: a party may challenge the lawfulness of secrecy while the information is protected to the maximum, and the court itself assesses the grounds of the decision. The closed session is here not an abstraction but a procedural guarantee — within the very study of lawfulness that is measured by the three conditions of Article 30.
When is classification lawful?
Only where the law directly requires protection from disclosure, sets specific criteria and contains an exhaustive list — all three together (Article 30).
How long does a commercial secret last?
Indefinitely, but it is declared open once it loses the value for which it was secret (Article 31).
Where is a classification decision recorded?
In the public registry, including decisions extending the term — an instrument of transparency (Article 31).
Which information may not be concealed?
The environment and dangers, the institution’s structure and officials, information connected with elections to an office, audit, databases and the existence of one’s own personal data (Article 42).
How does the court check classified information?
It requests and examines it to study lawfulness, on a party’s motion — in a closed session (Article 48).
How We Help on Legal.ge
The lawyers of Legal.ge will help you prepare a request for information, assess the lawfulness of classification, appeal a refusal and represent you in court. Contact Legal.ge — the right to transparency is protected by law and its defence is a legitimate interest.