Following the adoption of a series of restrictive laws targeting civil society, the Georgian authorities, comprised of the Georgian Dream party, continue the process of amending the legislation. These developments point to a broader pattern of growing restrictions affecting civil society space, including limitations on election observation, access to funding, and the exercise of freedom of peaceful assembly and association. Legislative changes are accompanied by harassment and constriction of civil society actors.
#1 So-called ‘fixes’ to the Law on Grants leave its repressive nature on freedom of association and funding unchanged
On 1 April 2026, the Georgian Dream political party initiated new amendments to the Law on Grants. According to the initiators, the March 2026 amendments required clarification and aimed to exclude diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia, consular offices, and representations of international organisations from the scope of the provision defining funds used for activities related to the political or public interests of a foreign government or political party.
Reportedly, the amendments were adopted under expedited procedures and without meaningful public input on 15 April 2026. The ambiguous, broad wording of the amendments and conflicting interpretations expressed during parliamentary debates may give rise to interpretative uncertainty regarding their scope and application in practice.
In particular, it remained unclear which categories of funding would fall within, or be excluded from, the definition of a “grant.”
The amendments edited paragraph 14 of Article 2 of the Law of Georgia “On Grants” and stated that:
“14. A grant shall also be considered funds transferred in monetary or in-kind form by a subject provided for under subparagraph ‘a’ of paragraph 1 of Article 3 of this Law, or by a citizen of another state, to a citizen of Georgia or a person holding the right of residence in Georgia, to a legal entity defined under subparagraph ‘d¹’ of Article 4 of this Law, or to a legal entity of Georgia, which are used or may be used for:
a) Activities carried out or to be carried out in order to exert any influence on the Government of Georgia, state institutions, or any segment of society, which are aimed at shaping, implementing, or changing Georgia’s domestic or foreign policy;
b) Activities that stem from the political or public interests, approaches, or relations of a foreign government or a foreign political party.
Note: Subparagraph “b” of this paragraph shall not apply to diplomatic missions accredited in Georgia, consular offices, or representations of international organizations in Georgia.”
The amendments also clarified that the rule established in Article 5¹(3) does not apply to a defined list of grants and financial assistance schemes. These include international sports organizations, certain educational and scientific scholarships abroad, major EU programmes such as Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, and Creative Europe, grants issued by Germany’s DAAD, grants from financial-credit institutions under Article 3(1)(a), as well as grants involving the Georgian Red Cross Society.
Independent lawyers, including the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association, argue that these amendments will not alter the law’s fundamentally restrictive nature and, on the contrary, may necessitate further clarification.
#2 Intensified crackdown on peaceful protesters and journalists
Alongside a series of restrictive amendments in 2025 to the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations, as well as to the Administrative Offences Code and the Criminal Code targeting peaceful protest participation in Georgia, the authorities have intensified the enforcement of disproportionately high administrative fines imposed on protest participants. The parliament, predominantly composed of members of the Georgian Dream political party, also declined to support a legislative initiative proposed by the opposition party “For Georgia,” which sought to introduce a one-time amnesty for fines imposed on participants in public assemblies.
In the first week of April, before Orthodox Easter, the National Bureau of Enforcement proceeded with the seizure of property and bank accounts belonging to dozens of protest participants.
Public reports indicate that, in certain instances, individuals were not even aware of the number of sanctions imposed on them, which amounted to up to 42,000 EUR (135,000 GEL) per individual.
These administrative fines have targeted not only civil and political activists but also journalists carrying out their professional duties during the protests. For example, journalist Maka Chikhladze, who was physically attacked by masked individuals during the coverage of mass protests in December, was fined on 4 October 2025 but was only notified of the sanction when her bank accounts and other assets were seized on 15 April 2026.