Publications

13 February 2017

Comments of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information on the 2014-2015 National Action Plan Final Self-Assessment Report of the Open Government Partnership Georgia

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) Georgia’s National Action Plan (NAP) 2014-2015 was created through intense cooperation between the government of Georgia and the civil society. The NAP included 27 Commitments (29 actions) that were distributed among 16 responsible institutions. IDFI was actively involved in monitoring of the action plan commitments and provided the OGP Forum Secretariat with regular assessments about the progress of activities.

9 February 2017

Public Defender Recommends Ministry of Justice to Cease Violating IDFI’s Rights

On January 31^st, 2017, the Public Defender of Georgia held that the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) and 11 legal entities of public law (LEPL) operating within its system violated the right of N(N)LE Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI). According to the Public Defender, the state entities failed to fulfil their legal obligation to disclose public information.

9 February 2017

IDP Families Waiting for Permanent Homes - Limited State Resources or Lack of Political Will

As of January 2017, 37,000 IDP households in Georgia are expecting state assistance. According to the Ministry of Refugees, GEL 1.5 billion is needed to provide these families with permanent housing.

7 February 2017

Group of States Against Corruption (GRECO) – Fourth Evaluation Round

Georgia is the member of GRECO from September, 1999. During its 17 years of membership Georgia underwent four evaluation rounds. The last evaluation round was launched in 2012. The GRECO Evaluation Team (GET), within the scope of fourth round of evaluation, conducted on-site visit to Georgia in June 2016. The evaluation report was adopted in December, 2016 and was published in January, 2017.

3 February 2017

2016 Statistics on Telephone Surveillance and Secret Investigation in Georgia

On January 25, 2017 the Supreme Court of Georgia published complete information about motions on telephone surveillance in 2016. Prior to this, available statistics covered the period up to October 2016. According to the published information, in 2016 there was a total of 401 motions on telephone surveillance, 315 of which were granted fully, and 30 were granted partially. Therefore, the percentage of granted motions has slightly increased as compared to 2015 and was 86%.

30 January 2017

Field Meeting of the Permanent Parliamentary Council on Open and Transparent Governance

The field meeting of the Permanent Parliamentary Council on Open and Transparent Governance (Council) and the Consultative Group under the Council was held at “Crowne Plaza Hotel”, Borjomi. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss issues related to parliamentary openness and to plan future steps.

26 January 2017

Parliament Chairperson Approved the New Composition of the Permanent Parliamentary Council on Open and Transparent Governance

New Members of the Council are: Irina Pruidze (as the Chairman) – from “Georgian Dream”, Irakli Kobakhidze-“Georgian Dream”, Tamar Chugoshvili-“Georgian Dream”, Kakha Kuchava-“Georgian Dream”, Guguli Magradze-“Georgian Dream”, Giorgi Tugushi-“European Georgia-for Better Future”, Otar Kakhidze-“European Georgia-for Better Future” and Emzar Kvitsiani-“Georgian Patriots”.

24 January 2017

Increasing Access to Judicial Decisions in Georgia – Presentation of Project Results

During the event IDFI presented the results of a research conducted within the framework of the project and get the audience acquainted with amendments to the legislation regulating access to court decisions.

23 January 2017

Regulating Secret Surveillance in Georgia (April-December, 2016)

Recent surveys show that public perception of surveillance has not changed dramatically in Georgia since 2013. There is still a perception that law enforcement agencies have technical capacity to wiretap and are using this capacity in illegal ways. Although there has been some progress in terms of investigation of cases of illegal surveillance, the emergence of new cases after the change of government in 2012 has increased doubts on continuing systemic practice of illegal surveillance, lack of willingness from the government to limit its power, and indicates a lack of efficient and comprehensive reform in this area.

10 January 2017

Statistics of Cutting Down Trees in Tbilisi Due to Constructions

The number of trees being cut down in Tbilisi in 2016 for being damaged has increased 5 fold compared to previous years, raising questions about the procedure for checking trees.