Mandatory Declassification Review (MDRs)

Mandatory Declassification Review is a provision of E.O. 13526 that allows members of the public to request a classification review of a classified document in order to obtain a releasable version of that document. The document must be classified in order to qualify for MDR; otherwise, the request must be made under the FOIA. The desired document must be specified in sufficient detail that it can be readily located. If documents pertaining to a particular subject are desired, that request should be made under the FOIA. There are some limitations to MDR, including: a minimum two-year limit between classification reviews (i. e., no MDR review need be conducted if the record was reviewed less than two years previously); a one-year time frame in which to accomplish the review (cf. FOIA's 20-day initial and follow-on responses to requesters); the record in question may not be the subject of litigation (e. g., before a court due to another requester's FOIA appeal). One prominent advantage of the MDR process is the availability of the ISCAP for appeals, cf. the (expensive) legal recourse for FOIA appeals.

Declassified MDRs

No data available at this time.