Challenging authoritarian laws in the Republic of Georgia

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Situation

In the months leading up to the 2024 Parliamentary Elections in the Republic of Georgia, the ruling party adopted a law that seeks to censor, fine and shut down civil society, media and election monitoring organisations. The ‘Transparency of Foreign Influence’ law also forces civil society and media organisations to disclose detailed personal information on employees, including sexual orientation, political views and trade union membership. The law is modelled on parallel Russian ‘Foreign Agents’ legislation which has forced civil society and media to relocate outside of the country, and sparked the largest mass protests seen in Georgia’s history. Despite a veto from the Georgian President, Salome Zourabichvili, who denounced it as ‘Russian in spirit and essence’, the ruling party used its parliamentary majority to enact the law, thereby creating an immediate block to the country’s future EU accession, a goal enshrined in Georgia’s Constitution and supported by 80 per cent of the population. Critics of the law describe it as an attempt by Russia to bring its neighbouring country back within its sphere of influence. In October 2024, the ruling party announced it had won a parliamentary majority in the Georgian elections, a result that has been widely rejected internationally, including by the European Parliament and the United States.

ILP’s Action

ILP’s legal experts supported a coalition of 121 civil society and media organisations, opposition MPs and President Zourabichvili, to file a case challenging the law in the Georgian Constitutional Court. When this was unsuccessful, ILP supported the lodging of a case before the European Court of Human Rights, alleging violations of the rights to freedom of assembly and association, freedom of expression, privacy and non-discrimination, and that the law places undue restrictions on fundamental rights. A few days later, the European Court ruled against Russia’s similarly drafted ‘Foreign Agents’ Law, finding it to be a violation of the European Convention and ordering Russia to pay compensation. The Court found that the law “contributed to shrinking democratic space by creating an environment of suspicion and mistrust ... and forced self-stigmatisation while severely limiting the ability of ... media ... and journalists to participate in public discourse and carry out their professional duties.”

Impact

In December 2024, two months following the lodging of the European Court case, the Georgian government pledged to amend the Foreign Influence Law and promised to form a working group that included representatives of the Council of Europe and the Venice Commission. This is currently pending. The law has not been enforced against NGOs.