News

The Overview of the Censorship of the Georgian Press and Print Media

The fight against censorship and for the freedom of speech counts centuries. One of the most ancient cases of censorship is related to the philosopher, Socrates who was sentenced to death in 333 BC for spreading the ideas among the youth that opposed his contemporary moral and political code. 

The Parliament of Georgia has Postponed Adoption of Amendments Necessary for Ensuring Access to Court Decisions

Based on the appeals of “Institute for Development of Freedom of Information” and “Media Development Foundation” the Constitutional Court of Georgia, by its decision of June 7, 2019, ruled that the provisions of the Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection, specifically Article 5 and paragraphs 1 and 3 of Article 6 were unconstitutional as they prohibited access to the full text of court decisions delivered within the scope of public hearings by Common Courts of Georgia. The Court held that the disputed norms would be void from May 2020 and thus gave the Parliament of Georgia time to harmonize existing legislation with the requirements of the Constitution.

The Statistics of Social Assistance for the Victims of Political Repressions

On 24 April 2020, IDFI published the article “The Mechanisms for Restoring the Rights of the Victims of Political Repression in Georgia and Their Assessment”. It is emphasized in the article that the amount of subsidy for the social support and daily living needs of the victims of political repression is not enough for satisfying the minimal daily needs.

Russian Propaganda and COVID-19 – Should Georgia Expand Trade Relations with Russia?

IDFI’s Recommendations for the 2021-2022 Open Government Georgia Action Plan

Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), as the member of the Open Governance Inter-Agency Coordination Council, and together with the other representatives of the civil society, presented the draft version of commitments to the Secretariat of the Open Governance Inter-Agency Coordination Council. These commitments were distributed to the relevant state agencies.

Victims of Soviet Repressions in Georgia – Legal Remedies and Their Assessment

To date, modern societies fully recognize the events of mass human rights violations at the territory of the former USSR. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the states took the responsibility to restore the violated rights of their citizens and ensure their legal rehabilitation. Georgia is among these states.

IDFI became member of the international platform – the Sites of Conscience

Founded in 1999, the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience (“the Coalition”) is the only worldwide network of Sites of Conscience. With over 275 members in 65 countries. The coalition builds the capacity of these vital institutions through grants, networking, training, transitional justice mechanisms and advocacy.

Covid-19 Related Simplified Tenders

On February 26, 2020, the first case of Covid-19 was reported in Georgia. Since March 21, the state of emergency and curfew were declared, several restrictions were applied including intercity and city mobility restrictions. The following changes had a serious impact on the public procurement process.  The state needs  a quick response against Covid-19, which means that the time required to purchase the necessary goods/services is limited.

Training on "Cyber-hygiene for Security"

With the collaboration of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) and LEPL Data Exchange Agency (DEA), on April 21, representatives of DEA conducted the online training on cyber security for the employees, and for the participants of the Educational Certification Program in Fighting Corruption, of IDFI.

Guidelines on the Proactive Publication of Information by Governments during the Covid-19 Crisis and on Covid-19 Related Public Procurement

The novel coronavirus (Covid-19) is spreading rapidly around the world. In times of a global health crisis of this kind, getting accurate information about government activities, relevant legal acts, social services, public spending on various government efforts to respond to existing challenges and new initiatives to support socially vulnerable groups becomes ever more important. In order to effectively fight against the pandemic, states should fully internalize the past experience and take every step necessary to ensure open and proactive access to the information on Covid-19 related projects and activities.