“Democracy Index – Georgia” Presented Recommendations to Human Rights Committee to Improve Access to Public Information

At the resumed spring session, the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights and Civil Integration, received, in accordance with the rules of procedure, the so-called “10th of December Reports” of public agencies concerning the situation of access to public information.

The organization has studied the reports of 75 public institutions: courts, government, ministries, Prosecutor’s Office, and other agencies.

The analysis has shown that the agencies mainly submit reports in a timely manner, yet frequently the reports do not contain information on all items prescribed by law, in particular:

A positive assessment should be given to the fact that reports of several public institutions contain information that is not required by law, namely, the reports of 10 agencies provide information not only on the total number of applications requesting public information of the year but also categorize the information showing who, how frequently and regarding what issues submitted applications. These are the reports presented by the Ministry of Environment and Agriculture, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Georgian National Energy and Water Supply Regulatory Commission, Georgian National Communications Commission, Ministry of Agriculture of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, LEPL Legal Aid Service, Special State Protection Service of Georgia, Public Defender and Center for Disease Control of Georgia. 

- Only 7 out of 75 agencies submitted comprehensively drawn up reports: the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Kutaisi Court of Appeals, Pension Agency, Penitentiary Service and State Inspector's Office.

- Some reports do not contain the analytical data relating to the previous year, which makes it impossible to assess whether any progress has been made compared to the previous year with regard to providing public information.

- The following 6 out of 75 institutions submitted their reports to the Parliament in violation of the timeframes prescribed by law: the Constitutional Court of Georgia; National Agency of State Property; Technical and Construction Supervision Agency; Georgian Public Broadcaster; National Statistics Office of Georgia; State Security Service of Georgia.

 - The reports of 5 out of 12 collective public institutions failed to provide information on the closure and/or grounds for the closure of their sessions: the National Bank of Georgia, National Communications Commission, Supreme Election Commission of Adjara Autonomous Republic, Government and Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia.

- Quite often the courts do not issue copies of court judgments on the ground that classifying the personal data of the parties indicated in such decisions is related to a great deal of efforts of the court, which may ultimately hinder the administration of justice (Tbilisi City Court refused to issue information in 200 cases in 2019 with the above motivation).

Recommendations to the Parliament - in order to improve the so-called “10th of December reports,” the law should require public institutions to submit to the Parliament information including the following two aspects:

- Information on the refusal or partial satisfaction to issue information, as well as the factual and legal grounds for the closure of the sessions of collective public institutions;

- Reports on comparative analysis of the previous year.

Recommendations to the Human Rights and Civil Integration Committee of the Parliament:

- Develop a uniform report template for all public institutions;

- Investigate the reason why the common courts refuse to issue information and to find out whether it is due to a gap in the law or the lack of resources. In either case, develop a mechanism for solving the problem;

- If necessary, invite representatives of public institutions to the committee session reviewing the reports and enquire about issues identified in their reports;

- Publish a list of violator institutions that have either not submitted reports to Parliament at all or have submitted them in breach of timeframes.

The suggested opinions and recommendations, including the results of the study of agency reports, can be found on the organization's website