The legal regime of public records requests in Georgia
Public records requests in Georgia are governed not by a separate statute but by the freedom-of-information norms of the General Administrative Code. This is an institution of administrative law: its object is information held by public agencies, and its purpose is the transparency of the work of government. One common misunderstanding is set aside on this page: requesting one's own personal data is not done through the public records institution — that falls under a different regime of personal data protection, whereas here we deal with public information.
The corresponding chapter of the General Administrative Code defines what public information is, who and how must release it, and within which deadlines. Knowledge of these norms matters for both sides: for a citizen, a journalist and a business — to know what may be requested and within which period a response must arrive; for a public agency — to avoid groundless refusal and the violation of deadlines.