Enter to open, tab to navigate, enter to select
Deliberative Process Privilege
Practical Law Glossary Item 2-522-0897 (Approx. 2 pages)
Glossary
Deliberative Process Privilege
A form of executive privilege that protects information showing the process by which a government agency reached a particular decision or crafted a specific policy from disclosure to third parties. The privilege typically allows the government to withhold testimony or documents that reflect an agency's pre-decisional:
- Advisory opinions.
- Recommendations.
- Deliberations.
To assert the deliberative process privilege, the government usually must:
- Invoke it through an agency head or her subordinate who is personally knowledgeable about the information sought to be protected.
- Identify the specific information that is protected by the privilege.
- Give reasons for maintaining the confidentiality of the information.
- Demonstrate that the privileged information is:
- pre-decisional; and
- deliberative.
For more information on the deliberative process privilege, see Depositions: Testimonial Privileges Checklist: Deliberative Process Privilege.