Access to Information!

Journalists Endlessly Waite for Information

Nona Suvariani, Tbilisi

The Human Rights Centre has been waiting for a reply from the Georgian Ministry of Defense for three months without success. On February 5, 2008, the center requested a copy of the contracts signed between the Georgian Ministry of Defense and TV Company “Sakartvelo” Ltd in 2007.

How should journalist act when public information is not issued? Whom should they apply to for the information and what kind of methods are used to request information?

Generally, every journalist in Georgia encounters serious problems while requesting or receiving public information. Although the Georgian General Administrative Code stipulates that all journalists should be able to obtain information, public officials still do their best to avoid issuing public information using anyway possible. Very often the reason is due to orders from the top.

After submitting a letter of request, the first reply from a public office is that the information will be issued in ten working days. According to Article 40 of the Administrative Code “A public agency shall render a decision on providing or denying access to public information immediately or no later than ten days, if such a response to a request is required.
 
(a) the acquisition of information from its subdivision that operates in another area, or from another public agency, or processing of such information,
(b) the acquisition and processing of separate and large documents that are not interrelated, or
(c) consultation with its subdivision that operates in another area, or with another public agency, if those are interested in the decision-making on the matter.

If “ten days are necessary to render requested public information, a public agency shall inform the applicant about the decision, its ground, and appropriate regulation.”

The law makes the process look easy but when it comes to reality, the demands are hardly realized. Law enforcements bodies create the largest barriers when it comes to providing public information. In most cases, press service offices or officials that are responsible for rendering public information make use of a variety of methods in order to best avoid replying to submitted requests. “After ten days of submitting your request (if you call to follow up) the office usually declares that the application was filled incorrectly. Other times they will render information, which you did not request or will say that the requested information is beyond their competence. Moreover, public agencies often respond by providing wrong or vague replies, which also contradicts the law and which can be responded with the applicant filing a lawsuit against the agency.”

In general, journalists rarely or never appeal to the courts. The reason is simply: the value of the requested information is lost before the court finishes procedures. Speedy access to information is essential for the applicant, who is faced with putting up with public agencies that never end up being brought before a court. In the end, their illegal actions and timing are the reasons that they are not brought to face the law.

Journalists are also fully aware of this terrible situation. The non-governmental organization “Discover Georgia” is currently implementing projects: “For the Freedom of Information” together with the “Center for Constitutional Rights”, both of which are targeted at supporting journalists in obtaining public information. The center is active with journalists and lawyers supporting one another in their efforts to obtain information.

Aleksi Shoshikelashvili, lawyer for the Center for Constitutional Rights, participates in the project for “The Freedom of Information”.

“The project aims at providing legal assistance to journalists while requesting information about public funds and state budget expenses. In most cases, public agencies do not render the information within the ten days estimated according to the General Administrative Code. The code does not insist that the information will be rendered before ten days. We try to assist journalists in getting the information immediately; we must create precedents when we have critical attitudes towards state public agencies will assume their responsibilities to render the information immediately; in two or three hours or at least in a day or two. We also aim at identifying all violations to the law that prevent journalists from obtaining information on time. our project will provide journalists with legal consultations when drawing up appeals and suits in order to submit valuable applications.”

Rezo Getiashvili, the director of the center, stated that public agencies usually render information that is useful and acceptable for them.

“Very often important information and facts remain unavailable to society. Our project aims at encouraging the activities of press-centers and making their activities public. We want to create precedents together with journalists and expose those people who do not assume their responsibilities.”

Kakha Chabashvili, editor of the “Real Capital” addition to the Newspaper “24 Hours”, worked at the press center before. He said the problem of delayed rendering of information is a result of poor professionalism of those people working in press centers.

“The heads of press centers are not professionals. Public relations are taught at serious institutes in Europe and America. Students learn how to cooperate not only with media outlets and journalists, but also with ordinary people as well. It does not work in Georgia; people take a three-month-course, receive a certificate and all of suddenly they become PR specialists.”

He also added that neither journalists are perfect professionals. Thus, this fact also delays receiving of public information. “A journalist from Rustavi 2 called me and asked to render him the information about budget revenues for the last two years. I explained to him that in order to render that information, I had to send an official letter to the chairperson, who then has to order the Statistics Department, which then has to order the head of the department, who gives directions to the chief specialist to collect that information.”

“Then, let’s discuss how acceptable is the fact that such complicated procedures must be carried out to get information, maybe we should simplify the procedures and journalists will not need to knock on nine doors,” protested journalist Nino Zuriashvili.

Kakha Chabashvili: “I agree with you. The principle of requesting and rendering public information must be changed. Journalists should not have to wait ten days. In addition, there is a lack of proper PR management, rules on requesting information, and professionalism public officials. As a result, every public official, with some exceptions, get embarrassed at the sight of a journalist. I worked as a head of the press center of one of the public agencies. The administration told me my function was to get rid of journalists.”

The project [for the] “Freedom of Information” will operate up to July. Thus, journalists will have the opportunity to obtain information in the minimal amount of time with the support of lawyers and other journalists involved in the project.