Rule of Law, Human Rights and Freedom of Media

19 September 2016

Politicization of Constitutional Justice: Altered Constitutional Claims and Motions to Recuse Constitutional Court Judges

Lately, a number of high-ranking political officials have made statements about constitutional claims having been altered, with some demanding a launch of investigation. The Georgian Parliament has requested the Constitutional Court to recuse several judges from two constitutional cases (so-called Cables-Ugulava and the Rustavi 2 cases), also citing possibly altered claims. In addition, lawyers of the Rustavi 2 case have appealed to the Constitutional Court to also recuse judges from their case because of their public statements. Considering the importance of the issue, IDFI decided to prepare a legal analysis of the situation based on information requested from the Constitutional Court.

6 July 2016

Access to Internet as a Fundamental Human Right

The UN Human Rights Council passed a resolution recognizing access to internet as a fundamental and basic human right. The resolution “affirms that the same rights that people have offline must also be protected online”.

23 June 2016

Recent changes in the US Freedom of Information Act

The US Freedom of Information Act is a federal law that sets the standards for disclosure of documents and information held by public institutions. It defines the concept of public information and regulates the exceptions for the disclosure of information. This article by IDFI examines the latest amendments to the Freedom of Information Act that significantly improve the access to public information.

10 May 2016

Freedom of Information in the Public Defender's 2015 Report

In April, 2016, the Public Defender published the 2015 report on the state of human rights and freedoms in Georgia, including freedom of information. The right to freely receive and distribute information is guaranteed by Articles 24 and 41 of the Constitution.

4 May 2016

Case Summary - IDFI vs Ministry of Internal Affairs

On the following link please find the summary of the case IDFI vs MIA. The article reviews decisions of Tbilisi City Court, Tbilisi Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court of Georgia. All three instances of court held MIA responsible for disclosing information on salary supplements and bonuses received by high-ranking officials.

4 April 2016

Opinion on the Legislative Package Drafted for Reforming the Code of Administrative Violations

Coalition for Independent and Transparent Judiciary issued the statements that includes the opinion of the coalition member organizations - on legislative package drafted for reforming the Code of Administrative Violations - consideration of which will strengthen the implementation process of the reform.

24 March 2016

Recent Amendments to the Legislation Greatly Complicate Monitoring of Security Liaison Officers

On the 27th of October an amendment was made to the Georgian legislation, which highlights that public access will be restricted to the asset declarations of those high-ranking public officials the position of which has been classified as secret information according to the Law on State Secrecy.

21 March 2016

Access to Court Decisions the Best International Practice

Access to court decisions in Georgia has recently deteriorated. Even different branches of the judiciary cannot agree on the rules for disclosing these decisions. The following is IDFI’s attempt to examine international best practice in this regard, and develop recommendations for Georgia.

21 January 2016

Freedom of Information Guidebook (Second Edition)

The Guidebook is based on the practice of requests of public information of the Institute. Based on the specific examples the work describes the present situation in Georgia and gives the reader full comprehension of the existing practice of accessibility of public information.

25 December 2015