Open Governance and Anti-Corruption

IDFI Presented its Report on Access to Public Information in Georgia

Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) presented its 2018 report on access to public information in Georgia and awarded 43 top open public institutions.

Quizzing Georgia’s Youth on Parliamentary Democracy

Parliament Speaker, Irakli Kobakhidze;Head of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Georgia, Louisa Vinton; and Deputy Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Georgia, Carlo Natale, presented awards to the winners of “What? Where? When?” -- a quiz designed to test young people’s knowledge about the Parliament and its role in Georgian democracy.

Perceptions of Prosecutors’ and Judges’ Wheelings and Dealings

Rustavi 2 TV channel broadcasted an investigative documentary Studio Monitor and Radio Liberty produced. The documentary “Judges in the Government’s Service” followed up on the government’s attemptedconfiscation of Constanta Bank from its founders in 2011. It further hinted at alleged misconduct by the prosecutors and judges. CRRC-Georgia conducted a follow-up phone survey to find out whether and how the public viewed the documentary.

Georgians are Split over the Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia

Georgians are Split over the Prosecutor’s Office in Georgia

Rustavi 2 broadcasted an investigative film created by the Studio Monitor and Radio Liberty about a suspended investigation of the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia. The film How to subjugate a judge? focused on accusations against prosecutors and judges related to the abuse of power, seizure of real estate, and giving of land to private individuals. Phone survey was conducted to find out if people watched the film and what was their attitude towards the issues raised in it. 

IDFI’s Opinion on the Reform Separating Prosecutorial and Investigative Powers

In 2018, the Georgian Government initiated a wide-scale reform of the investigative system with one of the key elements of the reform being separation of the investigative and prosecution functions.

Parliamentary Openness Under Georgian Media Spotlight

Over 20 journalists from leading Georgian media organizations met with members of the Permanent Parliamentary Council on Open Governance and its Consultative Group on March 16, 2019 to learn more about the openness related achievements of the Parliament of Georgia.

The Permanent Parliamentary Council on Open Governance and its Consultative Group are Discussing 2018-2019 Open Parliament Action Plan & Parliament’s Strategy on SDGs

Open Parliament and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were the focus of a three-day discussion on 14-15 March 2019 organised by the Georgia’s Permanent Parliamentary Council on Open Governance and its Consultative Group with the assistance from the European Union (EU), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI).

The Government of Georgia reduces its efforts to implement OECD-ACN Recommendations

Anti-Corruption Network of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD-ACN) published its second progress report on anticorruption recommendations issued for Georgia in its Fourth Round Monitoring Report. Of the 22 total recommendations, none of them showed significant progress, 17 were assessed as having some progress, and four of them indicated lack of progress, while no rating was granted to the remaining one.

Prosecutorial Reform – Review of System Changes at Onset of 2019

December 2018, after the inauguration of the President of Georgia, marks also a commencement date for the new constitutional amendments. As a result of these changes, Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia was separated from the Ministry of Justice and became a fully independent agency. The head of the institution is the Prosecutor General, while independence, transparency, and effectiveness of the system are guaranteed by the Prosecutorial Council.