§432. Decennial review of exempted operational files

(a) Review by Director of Central Intelligence

Not less than once every ten years, the Director of Central Intelligence shall review the exemptions in force under subsection (a) of section 431 of this title to determine whether such exemptions may be removed from any category of exempted files or any portion thereof.

(b) Consideration; historical value; public interest

The review required by subsection (a) of this section shall include consideration of the historical value or other public interest in the subject matter of the particular category of files or portions thereof and the potential for declassifying a significant part of the information contained therein.

(c) Judicial review

A complainant who alleges that the Central Intelligence Agency has improperly withheld records because of failure to comply with this section may seek judicial review in the district court of the United States of the district in which any of the parties reside, or in the District of Columbia. In such a proceeding, the court's review shall be limited to determining (1) whether the Central Intelligence Agency has conducted the review required by subsection (a) of this section within ten years of enactment of this title or within ten years after the last review, and (2) whether the Central Intelligence Agency, in fact, considered the criteria set forth in subsection (b) of this section in conducting the required review.

(July 26, 1947, ch. 343, title VII, §702, as added Pub. L. 98–477, §2(a), Oct. 15, 1984, 98 Stat. 2211 .)

Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 15, 1984, and applicable with respect to any request for records, whether or not such request was made prior to Oct. 15, 1984, and applicable to all civil actions not commenced prior to Feb. 7, 1984, see section 4 of Pub. L. 98–477, set out as a note under section 431 of this title.

Declassification and Release of CIA Information of Historical Value

Section 3 of Pub. L. 98–477 directed Director of Central Intelligence, in consultation with Archivist of the United States, Librarian of Congress, and appropriate representatives of historical discipline selected by Archivist, to prepare and submit report to Congress by June 1, 1985, on feasibility of conducting systematic review for declassification and release of Central Intelligence Agency information of historical value. Director was also required to prepare and submit four unclassified reports, one each six months beginning by Apr. 15, 1985, which were to include a description of the specific measures established by Director to improve processing of requests under section 552 of title 5, United States Code, current budgetary and personnel allocations for such processing, the number of such requests (i) received and processed during the preceding six months, and (ii) pending at time of submission of such report, and an estimate of current average response time for completing the processing of such requests.