Another Round of Unconstitutional Amendments

Following an expedited three-day review, the "Georgian Dream” parliament adopted another set

of unconstitutional amendments to the Law of Georgia "On Assemblies and Manifestations.”

Under GD interpretation of these changes, holding an assembly in public space - including on

sidewalks - now requires prior notification to and consent from the police. The police have also

been granted the authority to determine the time, place, or route of a demonstration themselves.

Failure to comply with these requirements entails administrative detention of 15 or 20 days.

The explanatory note to the draft law states that the current legislation grants participants in

assemblies and manifestations unconditional priority "at the expense of unjust restrictions” on

other rights and freedoms. Accordingly, the amendments aim to ensure a "fair balance.”

between, on the one hand, freedom of assembly, and on the other, the rights of persons who live,

work, or conduct business in areas where an assembly or manifestation takes place. 

Ensuring this balance has been entrusted to the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA), which, given the ministry’s

established practices, which excludes the possibility of maintaining a genuine balance between rights

or exercising the fundamental right to assembly within constitutional limits.

See more details in our report.