Bill: Draft Classified Materials Act

[EATB]

A

BILL

to

Provide a clear and practical approach to the classification of materials sensitive to National Security and the proper functioning of Government. ​

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 ‘Classified Materials Act’.
(2) This Act will be enacted immediately upon its signing into law.
(3) This Act has been authored by gwiis.
(4) This Act has been proposed by Rep. EATB.
(5) This Act has been co-sponsored by Rep. malka.

2 - Reasons
(1) Some materials pose a threat to National Security or the proper functioning of Government and, therefore, need to be legally prevented from being disclosed until it is safe and in the Public Interest to do so.
(2) The Classification Act fails to provide adequate protections for classified materials, which are made vulnerable during the transition of power at the end of a term of office
(3) The separation of powers should be maintained as much as possible; this should extend to the materials that each branch deems it necessary to classify.

3 - Rescission of the Classification Act
(1) The Classification Act will be rescinded in full thirty (30) days after the signing of this Act into law.
(2) Until its rescission, the aforementioned Act will remain in force solely for the purposes of managing legacy classifications and clearances in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

4 - 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 undermine the effective operation, confidentiality, or internal cohesion of a body of 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, and distributed.

(2) With the exception of PUBLIC materials, one of the following prefixes may be prepended to the designation of a classification, adjoined by a hyphen, to restrict access of the classified material to a single branch of government:

(a) EXEC - For materials classified by and within the Executive;

(b) LEG - For materials classified by and within Congress; or

(c) JUD - For material classified by and within the Judiciary.

(3) Materials without a prefix will be held in common by and accessible to all branches of government.


5 - Security Clearance
(1) The security clearance awarded to an individual will determine which designations of classified material they are able to access. Clearances will be inherently tied to the branch of Government from which they are granted or derived.

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

(a) SC-1 - Authorised to access all designations of materials;

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

(c) SC-3 - Authorised to access OFFICIAL materials within the scope of their assigned governmental role. This clearance is limited to the specific office, department, committee, or judicial body to which the individual belongs, and does not extend to other units or branches of government.

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

(3) The following offices grant to their holders the subsequent default security clearances, which may not be revoked while an individual remains in that office in an official or acting capacity:

(a) SC-1 is held by the President, the Vice President, their Chief of Staff, the Presiding Officers of Congress, and the Chief Justice;

(b) SC-2 is held by the Members of Congress, the Executive Secretaries, and the members of the Judiciary;

(c) SC-3 is held by all members of government, granting clearance only to classified materials within their office, department, committee, or judicial body;

(d) Nil will be the assumed security clearance of any individual not otherwise granted a security clearance.

(4) The Chief of Staff, acting under the direction of the President, may grant or revoke additional security clearances for individuals across any branch of government, provided that they do not interfere with the default clearances granted by §6(3). These constitute permanent changes to an individual’s clearance status and remain in effect until altered by the Chief of Staff.

(5) Temporary clearances, which must clearly state the duration and scope of the clearance, may be granted as follows:

(a) The Chief of Staff may grant temporary SC-1 or SC-2 clearance for Executive purposes.

(b) A Secretary may grant temporary SC-3 clearance for matters within their department, including classified support tickets.

(c) A Presiding Officer of Congress may grant temporary clearance at any level for Congressional purposes.

(d) The Chairperson of a congressional committee may grant temporary clearance to view materials classified by their authority within that committee;

(e) The Chief Justice may grant temporary clearance at any level for Judicial purposes.

(f) The Presiding Officer of a court of law may grant temporary clearance to JUD-classified materials for the purpose of ongoing judicial matters.

(6) The scope of a temporary clearance may be limited as deemed appropriate by the issuing party and shall not exceed the scope of the security clearance granted to the issuing party.

(7) The Chief of Staff, Department Secretaries, and Presiding Judges are each responsible for maintaining a record of any non-default or temporary security clearances issued under their jurisdiction.


6 - Classification Procedure
(1) A document, file, message, or channel must be explicitly marked by an authorised individual for classification to be enforceable. The designation, scope, and duration of the classification must be made clear at the time of classification.

(2) The power to classify and declassify materials will be vested in the following offices within their jurisdictions as the authorised individual:

(a) The Presiding Officers of Congress, within their chamber;

(b) The President, Vice President, and their Chief of Staff, within the Cabinet and the entire Executive branch;

(c) A Secretary of the Executive, within their department, and departmental tickets;

(d) A Committee Chairperson, within their committee;

(e) The Chief Justice, within the entire Judiciary;

(f) The Presiding Officer of a court of law, for all materials related to their session of court; and

(g) Any member of government, acting within their branch, as the author of an official document.

(3) An authorised individual may delegate, at their discretion, their power of classification to their subordinates for the purposes of effective governance.

(4) An individual may only access or apply a classification to materials:

(a) Within the level and scope of their current security clearance; and

(b) Bearing a prefix for a branch of government from which they derive that clearance, either by office or temporary grant.

(5) Judicial deliberations will be designated as at least JUD-RESTRICTED by default for the duration of a case, unless otherwise specified by the authorised individual. This classification will lapse only and automatically upon the delivery of a verdict, unless extended by the Supreme Court.

(6) The Executive Chief of Staff, Presiding Officers of Congress, Departmental Heads, and Chief Justices are responsible for maintaining a record of classified materials under their jurisdiction. These records must be stored or referenced in a classified form appropriate to their contents.


7 – Declassification and Succession of Office
(1) A classification shall remain in force until it:

(a) Reaches the expiry time set at the moment of classification;

(b) Is revoked or amended by the current holder of the issuing office, their superior, or an authorised individual with appropriate security clearance from said office;

(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 forty-eight (48) hours 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.

(4) No classification may remain in effect for more than one hundred and fifty (150) days without review. If not reaffirmed or updated within this time, it will enter a grace period of forty-eight (48) hours during which an authorised individual may renew or revise it. If no action is taken, the classification will be automatically declassified to PUBLIC.


8 - Freedom of Information
(1) Where National Security and the proper functioning of Government outweigh the legitimate interests of the Public, Classified materials will be, within reason as determined by the Judiciary, exempted from the constitutional right to Freedom of Political Communication.

(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) A 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;

(4) A FOI request made by a court of law, congressional body, or congressional committee is an ordained subpoena of information. The recipient of such is obligated to provide all PUBLIC and OFFICIAL materials pertinent to the request in full.

(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 for Congressional FOI requests;

(c) The Chief Justice for Judicial FOI requests.

(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 the denial 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 congressional hearing shall review the request and order the release of material where it finds that the request was reasonable. Congress may impose redactions or conditions on any such disclosure.

(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; and

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


9 - 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) A disclosure will not be considered a breach where it:

(a) Qualifies for whistleblower protection;

(b) Is made in the course of judicial proceedings under the authority of a presiding judge;

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

(d) Is made by a government official with the authority to declassify or disclose the material under this Act.


10 - Provisions for Transition
(1) There will be a transition period of thirty (30) days to allow for the replacement of classifications from the rescinded Classification Act with classifications valid under the provisions of this Act.

(2) Existing classifications shall be automatically converted as follows:

(a) Materials designated as SECRET will remain SECRET and may be prepended with a branch prefix as necessary.

(b) Materials designated as OFFICIAL will remain OFFICIAL and may be prepended with a branch prefix as necessary.

(c) Materials designated as CABINET will be converted to RESTRICTED and assigned the branch prefix EXEC-.

(4) Any classification that is not reviewed, converted, and recorded in accordance with this Act shall be automatically declassified to PUBLIC at the end of the transition period.

(5) The Chief of Staff shall be responsible for coordinating the review and conversion of all Executive classifications which will be carried out by the authorised individuals within the Executive; Presiding Officers shall do so for Congressional classifications; and the Chief Justice shall do so for Judicial classifications. Each shall ensure accurate records of all converted classifications are maintained.

(6) Security clearances held under the repealed Classification Act will be superseded by the default clearances and procedures established in Section 5 of this Act. Legacy clearances not aligned with the new system will be considered void after the transition period unless reaffirmed under the provisions of this Act.