Rule of Law and Human Rights

20 May 2020

Access to Courts -Public Opinion Survey Results

Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center (EMC) in collaboration with Caucasus Research Resource Center (CRRC) and Institute for development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) released results of a new survey: “Access to courts, public opinion survey results”. The document presents findings of the survey representative of Georgian-speaking adult population of Georgia regarding attitudes towards access to courts. In particular, the public opinion survey discusses issues related to different aspects of access to courts and attitudes of the population of Georgia.

20 May 2020

IDFI is Calling the Parliament of Georgia not Adopt the Draft Law in an Accelerated Manner

The parliament of Georgia is considering the draft amendments to the Law of Georgia on Public Health in an accelerated manner. The noted draft law is related to the threats caused by the spread of novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and after its adoption, relevant agencies will be able to take organizational, legal and other measures aimed to handle the challenges.

15 May 2020

IDFI's Policy Paper on Challenges Facing the Prosecution Service in Criminal Proceedings of Crimes Committed with Discriminatory Motive

Hate crime as well as domestic offence or domestic violence and violence against women is a universal reality for every society and is a complex problem widespread in the world with devastating results not only for victims but for the society as a whole due to its specific character and social threat.

15 May 2020

IDFI Considers that the Government Must Provide a Clear Explanation Regarding the Legal Basis for Possible Restrictions

In response to the crisis caused by the COVID-19, on March 21, 2020 Georgia declared the state of emergency, which was later extended until May 22. Certain constitutional rights are restricted during the state of emergency.

12 May 2020

The Survey of the population of Georgia on the knowledge and attitudes towards Prosecutor’s Office

The survey of the population of Georgia on the knowledge and attitudes towards Prosecutor’s Office was conducted from March 30 to April 12, 2020.
The survey studies the following topics: (1) Attitude towards the Prosecutor's Office and prosecutors of Georgia; (2) Knowledge about the Prosecutor's Office of Georgia; (3) Experience with the Prosecutor's Office; (4) Application of communication channels of the Prosecutor's Office and their evaluation.

11 May 2020

The Quality of Democracy in Georgia According to BTI 2020

The Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) was created for analyzing the quality of democracy in developing countries. The author of this project is the Bertelsmann Foundation - a large, non-profit organization based in Germany, which was founded in 1977 to strengthen the public engagement in political, cultural, and economic activities.

7 May 2020

Rule of Law and Human Rights During the COVID-19 Crisis

This document provides an overview of the international standards related to the rule of law and human rights protection in time of emergency as well as analyses key challenges regarding the following fundamental rights: the right to a fair trial, freedom of expression/access to information and the right to privacy.

4 May 2020

Perceptions of the Prosecutor’s Office

On January 19, 2020, Studio monitor and Radio Liberty released an investigative journalism film called “The Winner’s Justice.” It focused on accusations that prosecutors had not investigated the seizure of a luxury watch shop, the Albatros, from businessman David Begiashvili in 2011.

4 May 2020

Prevention and control of COVID-19 in Georgian prisons and places of detention

International organizations such as WHO/Europe, UNODC, CPT and the Commissioner for Human Rights assert that reducing the prison population is one of the key necessary measures for preventing widespread of COVID-19 in prisons and other places of detention. This recommendation is especially noteworthy for Georgia in the light of the monitoring reports of the National Preventive Mechanism.

2 May 2020

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.