Georgia

Overall situation and state of civil society

Image

2023 was somewhat turbulent for Georgian civil society. On 14th December, Georgia obtained European Union (EU) candidate country status. This is a great achievement for the country and its people who have repeatedly chosen to be a part of the European family.

Considering this trajectory, the suggested draft law about ‘foreign agents’ in the beginning of the year raised great concerns. The EU commented that the draft law’s adoption would be inconsistent with Georgia’s aspirations for continued development and EU membership as enshrined in Georgia’s Constitution, and contrary to EU norms and values. The draft law triggered widespread protests, attracting a diverse group of demonstrators, including young people, students, and community organisers, who voiced their opposition to the law. Law enforcement responded with force, deploying tear gas, water cannons, physical confrontation and mass arrests, provoking criticism for their use of disproportionate measures against peaceful protesters. In light of these developments, the governing party made the decision to retract the proposed legislation shortly thereafter, attributing this action to their intention to actively include the public and provide a more comprehensive explanation of the law’s objectives once heightened emotions had faded since the proponents of the Law claimed that its true objective was to promote transparency regarding foreign influence within the country, such a designation implies that the targeted organizations are influenced by foreign entities and may be driven by biased motives while impacting certain societal developments. This has the effect of presenting the work of CSOs in a negative light.

The consequences of these events have had an enduring and detrimental effect on the state-civic sector relationship, state-CSO cooperation in decision-making which has yet to be restored. For example, the level of involvement of CSO representatives in the process of producing Georgia’s risk assessment report of AML/CTF has almost ceased altogether following the proposed adoption of the Law on Foreign Agents.

Over the past two years, a notable geopolitical development has been Russia’s war in Ukraine. The primary related social and political occurrence that is exerting a seemingly enduring impact on society overall is linked to the significant influx of Russian citizens into Georgia, with indications of their prolonged presence without a specified duration. In the last three years, according to data from the first quarters, the highest rate of border crossings from the Russian Federation into Georgia was recorded in 2023.

Various circumstances, such as the proposed adoption of legislation pertaining to foreign agents, challenges around peaceful assembly, and difficulties in state-CSO collaboration, have played a role in the adverse consequences experienced by CSOs. The persistent nature of the obstacles to protecting the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and the right to peaceful assembly against arbitrary infringements is evident. These concerns frequently emerge due to misinterpretations of the Code of Administrative Offences. In this regard, it is important to note that within the Georgian legal framework, the Code of Administrative Offences is the sole remaining law from the Soviet Union era and it continues to serve as the primary tool for detaining protesters.

Overall, the civil society environment in Georgia in 2023 exhibited a modest degree of transformation in relation to the previous year, as it continued to grapple with a multitude of obstacles. The overall country score remained the same as in 2022 (4.8 out of 7), as did the overall country scores in law (5.2) and practice (4.3).

Video story

What is the impact of anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) measures on civil society? Find out more from Natia Aphkhazava, Civil Society Institute (Georgia):