Positive changes in terms of access to public information in Georgia were seen immediately after the parliamentary elections of October 2012, but the level of access to information was gradually decreasing in a number of state entities, according to a new report by the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information.
IDFI has been monitoring the level of access to information in Georgia since 2010 and submitted thousands of requests to hundreds of government organizations in Georgia.
The most recent monitoring covers the period between October 2013 and December 2014. See short summary with main findings or the full study.
All the received information is digitized, analyzed and uploaded on the website www.opendata.ge created by IDFI in 2010 which is supported by the Open Society Foundations and Open Society Georgia Foundation.
During the period of October 2013 – December 2014 IDFI sent 5,466 requests to 308 public institutions. It received complete responses on 3,258 requests, there were 319 incomplete replies, 68 instances of refusals, while 1,313 requests were left unanswered.
IDFI gave 38 institutions a 100% access to information rating.
A new award for the best proactive disclosure was given to the Ministry of Education and Science of Georgia.
The report also summarizes developments in case law.
In 2014 the Government of Georgia pledged in its Open Government Partnership (OGP) action plan to review FOI legislation and adopt a new FOIA law. A draft FOI law was prepared by the working group.
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