Deliberative Process Privilege


 * This article is part of a series on Exemptions
 * This article is part of a series on Exemption 5

Introduction
The deliberative process privilege is one of the privileges incorporated by Exemption 5 of FOIA. It protects “documents reflecting advisory opinions, recommendations and deliberations comprising part of a process by which governmental decisions and policies are formulated.”

The exemption is intended to preserve the quality of agency decisions by “encourage[ing] open, frank discussions on matters of policy,” “protect[ing] against premature disclosure of proposed policies before they are finally adopted,” and “protect[ing] against public confusion that might result from disclosure of reasons and rationale that were not, in fact, ultimately the grounds for an agency's action.”

Applicability
An agency withholding records under this privilege has the burden of proving that the materials are both “predecisional and deliberative.”