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Mandatory Declassification Review (MDR)
- A mechanism to promote declassification as soon
as warranted, and
allow public access to government records as soon as possible.
In the national security information classification system, the President
has provided that a member of the public may directly request that an agency
review its classified material for possible declassification. While not all
records or information are subject to MDR review, the vast majority of Department
documents are. However, 2 main pre-requisites for MDR exist:
- MDR requestors must describe the information
to be reviewed with specificity so that no search is required, as would
usually occur in a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case.
- Agencies are only required to review for declassification
once every 2 years. So, if a record or information has been reviewed (for instance, during
a FOIA request) and denied for release based on national security sensitivities
within the past 24 months, any subsequent requestor must wait until 2 years
have passed to have that same document or information reviewed again under
E.O. 12958, and MDR.
Finally,
there is no appeal to the courts after an agency denial of declassification.
Instead, appeal would be to the Interagency Security Classification Appeals
Panel (ISCAP).
More detailed information on making MDR requests to the Department
may be found in 22
CFR 171.21. Executive
Order 12958, as amended (2003) addresses MDR in section
3.4. ISOO’s implementing regulations are in Implementing
Directive No. 1, 31 CFR 2001.33.
An MDR information access request should specifically mention
MDR under E.O. 12958, and not mention the Freedom of Information or Privacy
Acts. Requestors
have to choose one system or the other. Because there is almost no search for
information in a general sense, as the MDR requestor must precisely describe
the records or the information to be declassified, the time and fees may be
less than under the Freedom of Information Act. Copying fees, currently
15 cents per page, do apply.
Questions on MDR should be directed to (202) 261-8484. |
