Adoption of amendments to the Law on grants
On 4 March 2026, the Georgian Dream parliament adopted the grant amendment package. The president signed it the same day and the law was published on the website, thus, enacting the law.
The amendments introduce additional restrictions and impose severe criminal liability, which are inconsistent with international standards regarding freedom of association and access to funding:
- Grants will also include funds transferred in monetary or in-kind form by a legal entity of another state to its representative office, branch, or division registered in Georgia (this provision does not apply to funds transferred for the purpose of carrying out entrepreneurial/business activities).
- The grantor must submit the written decision and the draft written agreement to the Government of Georgia or to a person/body authorised by the Government of Georgia in order to obtain consent on issuing the grant. To issue the consent, the Government has the right to request the submission of additional documentation.
- Under the legislative amendment package, new articles are added to the Criminal Code. These introduce criminal accountability for legal entities registered abroad whose main field of activity is engagement with issues related to Georgia, if they do not obtain the Government's consent to issue the grant.
- Criminal liability will also apply to the direct or indirect transfer of money, securities, other property, property benefits, or any other advantage to a citizen or legal entity of another state in exchange for carrying out activities related to political issues concerning Georgia, as well as to the acceptance of any foreign donation by a Georgian political party.
- According to the law, these criminal acts will be punishable by a fine, community service for a term of 300 to 500 hours, or imprisonment for a term of up to six years.
- The legislative amendments added to the Criminal Code Article also introduce criminal liability for extremism against the constitutional order.
- Additionally, under the amendments, if a crime defined in the Criminal Code is committed ‘with the motive of non-recognition of the constitutional order of Georgia or the constitutional bodies of Georgia,’ then any fixed-term imprisonment sentence, must exceed by at least one year the minimum sentence provided for the relevant offense under the applicable article or paragraph of the Code.
The adopted amendments largely preserve the core ideas of the initial proposal but significantly expand them through more detailed procedures, new criminal offences, broader monitoring powers, and transitional rules affecting already received grants. The laws are extremely harmful for civil society space, and any individual who voices discontent with Georgian Dream policies, whether in the political, civil, educational, or other spheres.
Citizens' legal action launched to ask for an investigation into the use of special means against protesters
The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA) has initiated a legal action on behalf of seven protesters who say they were harmed by chemical substances allegedly mixed into water cannons used by police during the pro-EU protests in late 2024. The group asked the Prosecutor’s Office to investigate, identify those responsible, and grant the injured individuals victim status.
This action follows a BBC investigation suggesting a military-grade chemical may have been used against peaceful protesters in late 2024. The Georgian authorities denied BBC’s investigation. The Georgian State Security Service opened an investigation both as a probe into possible police abuse and possible harmful dissemination of information about the state, questioning witnesses, human rights groups representatives, and experts involved in the reporting. The Service concluded that only CS tear gas, a standard crowd-control agent, was used. The criminal investigation into possible harmful dissemination of information about the state is still ongoing.
Planned amendments of the Election Code to prevent Georgian CSOs from election monitoring
On 4 March 2026, Parliament adopted the first reading of amendments to Georgia’s Election Code with 80 votes in favor and 9 against. The changes aim to clarify certain electoral procedures, particularly rules related to the registration of international observers and their interpreters.
Pursuant to the amendments, an international observer may only be a foreign citizen who has attained the age of 18. This amendment is enacted to ensure that subjective opinions of Georgian citizens who might be part of the international monitoring body do not influence international monitoring mechanisms. This amendment will significantly impact election monitoring of national CSOs. Also, the unfavourable amendments provide that the procedure governing photo and video recording and audio monitoring by individuals at sessions of election commissions shall be determined by a decree of the Central Election Commission of Georgia, and it also establishes procedures for the registration of interpreters accompanying international observers.
Deteriorating media space
Two recently published reports reveal a decline in media freedom in Georgia. First, the Council of Europe Press Freedom 2025 report highlights the continuing deterioration of media rights in Georgia. The platform recorded 32 alerts about press freedom violations in 2025, a 78% increase compared to 2024, citing growing institutional repression, politicised law enforcement, restrictive legislation, and weakened democratic checks and balances. The same worrying trends are documented by the Human Rights Watch 2025 World Report, published in February 2026.
In this context, in February 2026, Georgia’s Communications Commission has launched administrative proceedings against the opposition-leaning TV channel Kavkasia over a suspected violation of rules banning foreign funding of broadcasters. The investigation was triggered after the regulator learned that the channel received a donation from a private individual from the United States in late 2025. The regulator asked the channel to provide detailed documentation explaining the payment, including what services were provided and the legal basis for the income. Under amendments adopted in 2025, Georgian broadcasters are prohibited from receiving foreign funding except through commercial transactions, meaning donations may violate the law.
The case comes amid broader restrictions on foreign funding and growing financial pressure on critical media outlets in Georgia, which some journalists say could threaten their sustainability.