Most Open & Closed State Institutions of Georgia 2017

In terms of access to public information in Georgia, the most open state institutions in 2017 were: The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources Protection, Ministry of Penitentiary and Probation, Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, while the Revenue Service was named as the most closed state institution.

The information was provided by the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), which has been monitoring access to public information in Georgia since 2010. 

The NGO reports that within the framework of monitoring conducted by IDFI in 2010-2017 a total of 45,310 Freedom of Information (FOI) requests were sent to public institutions, and 37,511 replies were received.

Overall, during the monitoring conducted in 2010-2017, the highest rate of received information (90%) was in 2013. In 2017, the number of received replies was 88%.

Last year, the NGO sent 7,728 requests to 289 public institutions and received 4,604 complete responses, 483 incomplete responses, and 51 refusals.

“946 requests were left unanswered and in other cases, the institutions stated that they had not conducted specific activities, or did not have the requested information,” the NGO says.

The most closed public institution in 2017 was the LEPL Revenue Service. The Revenue Service was sent 29 FOI requests, and none of these was provided with a response. 

In 2017, in addition to the Revenue Service, there were 13 other public institutions out of a total of 289 administrative bodies, which neglected the legal obligation to disclose public information, and left all FOI requests from the IDFI without a response. 

The NGO observed a regress in terms of providing public information from the Ministry of Finance.

“The 81.9% indicator in 2016 worsened by 69,8% and amounted to 12.1% in 2017. With the Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, the indicator worsened by 35.7%,” the IDFI report reads.

However, significant progress was observed in the Ministry of Justice, which was named as the most closed public institution in 2016. The 0% indicator in 2016 was improved by 74,9% in 2017. The Ministry of Internal Affairs also had +46,2% progress last year.

By Thea Morrison