Analysis

2 December 2014

There Are Positive Amendments in the Legislation for Aliens Lawfully Staying in Georgia

On the 26th of November amendment to the law on the Legal Status of Aliens and Stateless Persons went into force. The recently adopted amendments to the law sets new regulations linked with the issue of immigration visa as well as residence permit. Overall we find that the new amendments to the law should be assessed positively. Moreover the fact that the Government of Georgia has reacted to the concerns highlighted by the aliens as well as by the CSOs should also be welcomed.

6 November 2014

The Number of Motions on Secret Surveillance Has Decreased

The Supreme Court of Georgia has fulfilled the obligations taken under Open Government Partnership (OGP) Action Plan 2014-15 and has proactively published on its official website unprecedented statistics on surveillance.

7 October 2014

The Rationale Behind Stricter Visa Regulations in Georgia

Until recently Georgia has exercised one of the most liberal migration policies in the world (visa free stay for up to 360 days, the possibility to apply for the visa on the directly on the border and etc), nevertheless it will not come as a surprise to state that the country has gradually started to adopt restrictive immigration policy. IDFI decided to look into the rationale of amending the migration policy, and on September 12th reffered to the government of Georgia with the FOI request to indicate the international agreements, as well as the research conducted and/or statistical data obtained based on which the reform was conducted. This article based on the official documents received from the government of Georgia, sums up the arguments of adopting a restrictive visa regime in Georgia and informs the reader on the process of adopting the applicable legislation.

6 October 2014

Misconducts Linked with the Asset Declarations of Senior Officials

As it is widely known, LEPL Civil Service Bureau is the entity entitled to monitor the timely submission of the asset declaration by senior officials in Georgia.

3 October 2014

2013 Data received from Shida-Kartli Region

Here you can see the information received from Shida Kartli self-governmental and municipal authorities.

30 September 2014

Access to Public Information in LEPLs and State Sub-Agencies in Georgia - Report of 2013-2014

In may 2014 IDFI has published the report on the Access to Public Information in Central Public Institutions of Georgia (The Parliament, The Chancellery of the Government of Georgia, the Administration of the President of Georgia, ministries, offices of state ministers, the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia, the Administration of South Ossetia, the Autonomous Republic of Adjara and its ministries) covering the period of October 2013 – March 2014. At this stage we present the report on the Access to Public Information in legal entities of public law, state sub-agencies and other public entities (80 public entities in all) for the period of October 2013 – July 2014.

1 September 2014

Statistical Information on Foreign Citizens Been Granted the Citizenship of Georgia, Residence Permit or the Status of a Refugee in 2005-2013

The Ministry of Internally Displaced Persons From the Occupied Territories, Accommodation and Refugees of Georgia is responsible for deciding on the issues of granting the status of a refugee to the nationals of foreign countries as well as to individuals having no nationality

14 August 2014

Official Expenses of Government Chancellery of Georgia (2013-2014)

With the Decree of the Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili regulation of salary supplements of the head and other officials of the Chancellery has been defined.

25 July 2014

2013 Data from Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti Region

Institute for development of freedom of Information keeps providing divers public information received from Self-governmental authorities of Georgia. Information received to IDFI is now accessible on www.opendata.ge

18 July 2014

Civil Service Recruitment

The civil service recruitment procedures have significantly improved after the adoption of the relevant decree by the Government of Georgia on the 20th of July this year. Overall the legal guarantees of the recruitment process being conducted in an objective and impartial way has been strengthened by the legislation. Nevertheless in the process of comparing Georgian legislation with international practices (the UK and Estonia) it was found that the legislation regulating civil service recruitment issues in Georgia needs further improvements, hence our recommendations are as follows.