Bill: Draft Classification Act

[End]

A
BILL
To

Protect institutional solidarity.​

The people of the Commonwealth of Redmont, through their elected Representatives in the Congress and the force of law ordained to that Congress by the people through the constitution, do hereby enact the following provisions into law:

1 - Short Title and Enactment

(1) This Act may be cited as the 'Classification Act'

(2) This Act shall be enacted immediately upon its signage.

(3) This Act has been authored by End.

(4) This Act has been co-sponsored by

2 - Reasons

(1) Cabinet solidarity is one of the most fundamental principles of our executive. It provides for a unified executive government with a unified sense of direction and policy. Therefore, internal cabinet deliberations must be protected for the duration of a presidential term.
(2) Just the same, judicial solidarity is extremely important, particularly in the Supreme Court where multiple judges rule on cases. It preserves impartiality and allows judges to deliberate freely without external pressure. Protecting these deliberations maintains the independence and integrity of the judiciary. When the court issues a verdict, it reflects the unified position of the judges, and exposing internal deliberations serves no purpose other than to undermine judicial authority or invite unnecessary scrutiny of their reasoning.

(3) Minor edits have been made to improve readability, close loopholes, and clarify sections that were previously unclear or nonsensical.

(4) The requirement to maintain a comprehensive classified list has been removed, as it is overly burdensome and unlikely to be accurately maintained in practice (almost guaranteeing that everyone is not doing this).

(5) Privilege protections have been reinstated to safeguard the collective solidarity of both the judiciary and the Cabinet. This is a vital principle: recent pressures to disclose judicial deliberations prompted requests from the SCR and concerns from some Justices, with some considering resignation in principle if such disclosures continue to be permitted.

3 - Unification of Classification Acts

(1) The repealed Classification Act will be merged with this act's historical thread.

(2) The Classified Materials Act will be repealed and be merged with this act's historical thread.

4 - Principles

(1) Need to Know. Individuals or offices should only retain classified information if it is necessary for their role or responsibilities.

(2) Need to Hold. Individuals and offices must take reasonable steps to protect information from misuse or unauthorised access. Limiting retention to those who need to hold it reduces risk of accidental or unauthorized disclosure.

5 - Classification Designations

(1) Classified materials must be given one of the following designations:

(a) SECRET - Reserved for material that, if disclosed, has the potential to cause significant harm to National Security or the Government.

(b) RESTRICTED - Reserved for material that, if disclosed, has the potential to cause moderate harm to National Security or the Government.

(c) OFFICIAL - Reserved for material that, if disclosed, has the potential to cause minor harm to National Security or the Government.

(d) PUBLIC - Material that has not been assigned a classification or that has been lawfully declassified, publicly announced, or distributed.

*Above markers are red, not to be removed.

(2) A document or channel must be explicitly and visually assigned a classification for the classification to be enforceable.

(a) Documents. Where practicable, the classification designator should be placed centrally, in the header and footer, in bold, and in red.

(b) Channels or other media. In the description of a channel. An acceptable alternative is a pinned message containing the designation.

(3) Sub-Designators can be suffixed in brackets to further limit information to certain institution members below:

(a) 'Congress' limits the information to members of Congress.

(b) 'House' limits the information to members of the House of Representatives.

(c) 'Senate' limits the information to members of the Senate.

(d) 'Cabinet' limits the information to members of the Cabinet.

(e) 'Judiciary' limits the information to members of the House of the Judiciary.

(f) 'Supreme Court' limits the information to members of the Supreme Court

(4) Materials must not be assigned a classification higher than necessary.

6 - Security Clearance

(1) The security clearance awarded to an individual will determine their ability to access classified information:

(2) The recognised security clearance levels are as follows:

(a) SC-1 - Authorised to access SECRET, RESTRICTED and OFFICIAL materials;

(b) SC-2 - Authorised to access RESTRICTED and OFFICIAL materials;

(c) SC-3 - Authorised to access OFFICIAL materials;

(d) Nil - Authorised to access PUBLIC materials only.

(3) While an individual may have blanket authority to view a document, they must satisfy need to know and or need to hold that specific information.

(3) With the exception of PUBLIC materials, one or more prefixes may be prepended to the designation of a clearance. These prefixes must be the clear abbreviations or name of a governmental body, branch, or area, and shall be adjoined to the clearance by a hyphen. Their inclusion serves to restrict the clearance to the governmental body, branch, or area.

(4) Clearances without a prefix shall not be considered restricted to a governmental body, branch, or area.

7 - Classification Procedure

(1) A document, file, message, or Discord channel must be explicitly marked by an authorised individual for classification to be enforceable. The designation, scope, and duration of the classification must be written down in the appropriate list.

(a) A document, file, message, or Discord channel may still be additionally classified based on "need to know".

(1) The Primary Classification Officer (PCO) shall be the highest authority for classification within a given area including but not limited to a Governmental branch, body or agency. PCOs shall:

(a) Be immune from the need for adequate security clearance within their area;

(b) Have the power to classify and declassify materials within their area, subject to the appropriate rules and regulations;

(c) Give and revoke temporary and permanent clearances within their area subject to the appropriate rules and regulations;

(d) Keep a list of materials classified under their authority, including those classified by individuals to whom they have delegated authority;

(d) Keep a register of individuals to which they have delegated their authority; and

(e) Keep a register of individuals to which they have given a security clearance.

(2) A Secondary Classification Officer (SCO) shall be an individual delegated the authority of a PCO, at said PCO’s discretion and within the limits set by that PCO and the appropriate rules and regulations.

(a) Provisions applying to PCOs shall apply to their respective SCOs less delegation powers. mutatis mutandis.

(i) An SCO shall use the register of the PCO which has delegated them their authority.

(3) The following shall be the only Primary Classification Officers:

(a) The President shall be the PCO for the Executive;

(b) The Chief Justice shall be the PCO for the Judiciary;

(c) The Presiding Officers of Congress shall be the PCO for their respective Chambers and jointly for the Legislature;

(d) The Executive Secretaries shall be the PCO for their Department;

(e) The Federal Reserve Board shall jointly be the PCO for the FRB;

(f) The Presiding Judicial Officer of a court shall be the PCO for material regarding their case;

(g) The Presiding Officer of a congressional hearing or impeachment trial shall be the PCO for material regarding the hearing or impeachment trial.

(4) An individual may only apply a classification to materials within the level of their current security clearance;

(5) Judicial deliberations are RESTRICTED (Judiciary) by default.

(6) Congressional Members shall be immune to the need for a clearance for materials received.

(8) Congressional Members shall have the "LEG-RESTRICTED" clearance.

(9) Representatives shall have the "HOUSE-RESTRICTED" clearance.

(10) Senators shall have the "SENATE-RESTRICTED" clearance.

8 - Privilege
(1) Executive Privilege. The President may invoke Executive Privilege where internal executive communications and deliberations, including Cabinet discussions, drafts, documents, channels, and otherwise is subject to subpoena or compelled disclosure if it poses a risk to:

(a) the collective responsibility and solidarity of the Cabinet;

(b) national security, public safety, or sensitive diplomatic matters;

(2) Judicial Privilege. The judiciary may invoke Judicial Privilege to withhold internal judicial communications from subpoena or compelled disclosure if such disclosure poses a risk to:

(a) the independence, impartiality, and integrity of the judiciary;

(b) the confidentiality of judicial deliberations, including opinions, draft judgments, and internal discussions;

(c) the administration of justice and the proper functioning of courts.

(3) Subpoena. Where privilege is invoked, subpoenas require supermajority approval of both chambers to be enforced. The content of a successful subpoena where privilege is invoked must be viewed in confidence until such information is released by the PCO.

(4) Compelled Disclosure. Where privilege is invoked, compelled disclosure must view the information in confidence until such information is released by the PCO.

(a) Judicial communications are exempt from compelled disclosure.

9 – Declassification and Succession of Office

(1) A classification shall remain in force until it:

(a) Reaches the expiry time set at for classification;

(b) Is revoked or amended by a PCO or someone with their delegated authority;

(c) Is revoked or amended by the courts;

(d) Is automatically declassified under this section.

(2) If the office that issued a classification becomes vacant, a grace period of five (5) days shall apply, during which the classification remains enforceable.

(3) At the end of the grace period, the classified materials are automatically declassified to PUBLIC unless, within the grace period:

(a) An individual has assumed, in an acting or confirmed capacity, an office with the authority to manage the classified material and has the necessary security clearance to do so; or

(b) A superior officeholder has reaffirmed the classification under their own authority.

(3) Classifications must be reviewed every 150 days.

(5) Any materials that are released through a FOI request are automatically declassified to PUBLIC upon release.

10 - Freedom of Information

(1) Where National Security and the proper functioning of Government outweigh the legitimate interests of the Public, classified materials will, within reason as determined by the Judiciary, not be released.

(2) Any individual or entity may submit a Freedom of Information (FOI) request for access to material held by any government entity. FOI requests must receive a response within seven (7) days indicating:

(a) Approval and eventual release of the material; or

(b) Denial on the grounds of an unreasonable request.

(3) An FOI request will be deemed unreasonable if:

(a) It seeks information clearly beyond the jurisdiction or knowledge of the office addressed;

(b) It seeks access to material whose disclosure to the requesting individual or entity would clearly pose a risk to National Security or to the lawful operation of Government such that it outweighs public interest; or

(c) It is so vague or broad as to be unfulfillable in practical terms;

(5) FOI requests will be handled by the following parties:

(a) The Attorney General for Executive and General FOI requests;

(b) The Speaker of the House and President of the Senate for Congressional FOI requests;

(c) The Chief Justice for Judicial FOI requests;

(d) The FRB Governor for requests made to the FRB.

(6) The Government is obligated to comply with all reasonable FOI requests to the fullest extent possible, including through partial releases, redactions, or summaries where full disclosure would be unlawful or harmful.

(7) Where an FOI request is denied or has failed to receive a response within seven (7) days, the requester may appeal this as follows:

(a) If the request was made to the Executive or Congress, the appeal shall be lodged in the Federal Court in the first instance. The Judiciary shall order the full or partial release of the material if it determines that the request was reasonable. The Court may impose redactions or conditions on any such disclosure.

(b) If the request was made to the Judiciary, the appeal shall be lodged in Congress. A joint closed and classified congressional hearing shall review the request and order the release of material where it finds that the request was reasonable by simple majority vote. Congress may impose redactions or conditions on any such disclosure by simple majority vote.

(8) An individual who discloses classified material without authorisation may claim protection as a whistleblower under the Whistleblowers Act (or subsequent similar Act) where all of the following apply:

(a) The disclosure served a clear and compelling public interest;

(b) No effective or reasonable internal route existed for raising the concern or when this route was used no significant action was taken; and

(c) The individual acted in good faith and not for personal or political gain.

(9) Classification may strictly not be applied for any of the following reasons:

(a) To cover up breaches of laws, rules or regulations;

(b) To prevent or reduce reputational damage, negative publicity or public backlash;

(9) A Court may issue a subpoena to order the disclosure of classified material to a closed or open court as determined by the Judicial Officer.

(10) A Chamber of Congress may issue a subpoena to order the disclosure of any classified material of any branch by a Motion to Subpoena with a simple majority vote. The motion must mention if the disclosure is public or limited to a certain group.

(11) A Congressional Member, acting in their official capacity to provide oversight of government, may issue an FOI request which shall be considered as having a significantly higher public interest. Such requests must:

(a) Clearly indicate that the member is acting in their official capacity and not as a private citizen;

(b) Ensure that any released materials remain appropriately classified within Congress, and not subsequently disclosed;

(c) Avoid creating a significant conflict of interest, which shall be considered additional grounds to deem the request as unreasonable.

11 - Breach of Integrity

(1) The disclosure of materials classified by this Act by an unauthorised individual or entity will constitute the crime of breach of integrity.

(2) Responsibility for a breach lies with the individual who first disclosed the material without proper clearance, unless otherwise exempt under law.

(3) An unauthorized disclosure will not be considered a breach where it:

(a) Qualifies for whistleblower protection;

(b) Is made by a Member of Congress in the course of official congressional duties, excluding the unauthorised release of protected witness identities;

10 - Continuity

(1) All classifications stand under the rules for which they were originally classified.