September 28^th is the International Right to Know Day, which unites all those for whom the freedom of information and its availability is important.

The International Right to Know Day was established in 2002 to celebrate the creation of the network of organizations working in the field of freedom of information (The Freedom of Information Advocates Network (FOIAnet)). This day is celebrated by civil society organizations in about forty countries.

Freedom of information is one of the basic human rights in Georgia and is regulated by the Georgian constitution, article 24 of which states: “Every human being has a right to freely access and spread information”, and the first section of article 41 states: “Every citizen of Georgia has a right to access information stored in the state institutions concerning him, as well official documents if they do not contain state, private or commercial secret, according to the rules determined by the law”. We think that the above is a prerequisite to informational self-determination and the protection of the right of free personal development.

At the same time, with regards to September 28^th, the Institute responds to the recent lack of transparency and the neglect of accountability in Georgia and notes that, despite legislative guarantees, the right of the citizens to access public information often meets artificial barriers.

For example, in the framework of the “Public Information Database” project the Institute still has not received replies to the following requests sent to public institutions in July 2012:

Administration of the President

• Information about the salaries of the Head of the Administration, his secretary, the Advisor to the President, press speaker of the President and the Head of the Public Relations Office and copies of the relevant legal acts confirming these salaries.
• Copies of the decrees about the funds allocated from the reserve fund of the President in 2012.
• List of the presidential programs, their duration and the funds allocated for these programs in 2011-2012.

Office of the Government

• Decrees of the Government of Georgia  

Ministry of Finance

• Information about the funds allocated for the purpose of building the parliament in Kutaisi and copies of the relevant legal acts.

Municipal Boards of Akhmeta and Akhaltsikhe

• Detailed estimate of the funds transferred from the fund for the projects to be implemented in the regions of Georgia to the self-governing units in the first quarter of 2012.

Municipal Boards of Gardabani and Marneuli

• Detailed estimate of the funds transferred from the state budget to the self-governing units in 2012 in the framework of the Program for the Support of Village.

Municipal Boards of Kharagauli

• Copies of the leasehold agreements between the Municipal Boards of Kharagauli and the political unions of the citizens, on the basis of which the real estate in the possession of the Municipal Board of Kharagauli is owned by the political unions of the citizens.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Education and Science provided us with the requested information only after an administrative complaint was filed. According to the reply, the information about the detailed estimate of one million (1 000 000) GEL allocated for “other expenses” from the state budget in the first quarter of 2012 is not available in the ministry. The above reply unfortunately indicates a systematic approach to the neglect of public accountability.

With the regard of the International Right to Know Day the “Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information” urges the government of Georgia to improve the approach of a number of public institutions to the field of transparency and availability of information and provide a right to access public information guaranteed by the legislature.

See the attachment for the reply sent by the Ministry of Education and Science in response to the request by the “Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information” (Detailed estimate of 1 000 00 (one million) GEL allocated for “other expenses” in the first quarter of 2012 for the development of the state policy on the fields of education and science).