On March 10, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia addressed the Court of Appeal with a recommendation concerning the violation of the right to access information.

The Public Defender has been informed that regardless of A.G.'s request, he was not provided with information about the number of the cassation cases, as well as the criminal cases reviewed by the Criminal Chamber of the Court of Appeal without oral hearing in 2015-2016 and relevant verdicts on the motive that there was no statistical record of such information. In addition, the applicant was not provided with encoded copies of judgments passed without oral hearing in the same period.

The Public Defender considers that public access to court decisions with the observance of the principle of depersonalization, is guaranteed by the Georgian legislation and by the principle of publicity of court decisions recognized at the national and international levels. The constitutional right to access information, which includes access to processed information about official activities for everyone, ensures transparent implementation of the public authority.

Thus, the Public Defender recommended the Court of Appeal to provide the applicant with information about the number of cassation cases and the verdicts passed without oral hearing, as well as depersonalized copies of the judgments delivered without oral hearing in 2015-2016.