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Georgia

https://www.idea.int/democracytracker/

May 2025

Georgian Dream steps up pressure on opposition parties

The ruling Georgian Dream party escalated its efforts to ban and sideline opposition politics parties in May. Three opposition leaders were sentenced to pre-trial detention and Parliament (boycotted by the opposition) passed a law simplifying the process and expanding the criteria for banning political parties. Zurab Japaridze, Irakli Okruashvili and Nika Gvaramia were arrested for declining to appear before a parliamentary committee tasked with investigating alleged crimes of the former United National Movement (UNM) government (2004-2012). The committee’s stated goal is to find grounds to ban UNM and all other opposition parties. Many opposition figures have refused the committee’s summons, arguing that the committee’s aims are unconstitutional and that because the 2024 parliamentary elections lacked credibility, the current Parliament is illegitimate. If convicted of failing to comply with the summons, all three face up to one year in prison and a three-year ban from holding public office.

Source: OC Media (1), OC Media (2), OC Media (3), Parliament of Georgia, International IDEA

April 2025

Series of laws close civic and media space

Parliament passed several laws restricting civil society and media on 1 April, including a so-called “foreign agents” law (FARA) imposing sweeping registration requirements and sanctions on independent organisations and media outlets. The law tightens regulation on broadcasters and revokes a requirement to involve civil society in the legislative process. On 17 April it passed a law mandating prior permission from the Georgian Anti-Corruption Bureau to receive a grant from any foreign donor. The Georgian FARA law requires any organisation or individual deemed to be acting at the direction of a foreign power, including receiving a grant, to register with the government or face up to five years’ imprisonment. Broadcasters are now subject to stricter state ‘coverage standards’ and banned from foreign funding, which journalists say amounts to state control and censorship. The law on civil society participation was justified by what Georgian Dream lawmakers called the ‘anti-democratic’ actions of NGOs. 

Sources: OC Media (1), Caucasian Knot, OC Media (2) 

January 2025

Watchdogs say media executive's arrest was unwarranted

A leading media executive was sentenced to pre-trial detention on 12 January while she faces trial for slapping a police officer during an argument outside of a police station. Mzia Amaghlobeli, the founder of Georgian media outlets Netgazeti and Batumelebi, was arrested during a protest against the Georgian government’s repressive response to nationwide protests in December and January. Georgia’s media community, 14 embassies, the EU Human Rights Commissioner, and international politicians have called for Amaghlobeli to be released while she awaits trial, arguing her detention is without legal basis and intended to punish her for her media outlets’ investigations into human rights abuses and official corruption. The arrest comes as part of a wider crackdown on media and protest, including police violence, that has been criticized by international and domestic human rights monitors and press freedom organizations. As of 6 February, Amaghobeli had been on a hunger strike protesting her continued pre-trial detention for 25 days. 

Sources: Eurasianet (1), Eurasianet (2), OC Media, Interpress, BBC 

December 2024

New president sworn in amid protests and controversy

Georgia’s parliament inaugurated Mikheil Kavelashvili as the country’s new president on 29 December in a process met by public protests and condemned as illegitimate by the political opposition, the outgoing president Salome Zourabichivili, and much of Georgian civil society. The inauguration marks a new phase in Georgian politics, where the opposition and the government no longer recognize each other’s political or legal legitimacy. Kavelashvili was elected in a parliamentary session boycotted by opposition MPs. Critics hold that the October 2024 election was irreparably marred by irregularities and signs of tampering by the victorious Georgian Dream and call for a rerun. The final report from the OSCE election monitoring mission released on 27 December echoed these concerns, finding “reports of intimidation, coercion, inducement, and pressure on voters,” raising concerns about “the ability of some voters to freely form their opinions and cast their votes without fear of retribution.”

Sources: OC Media (1), British Broadcasting Corporation, OC Media (2), International IDEA, OSCE

New government moves against civil service independence

A new Public Service Law in effect on 30 December was criticized by civil servants and civil society organizations for giving the government excess influence over the staffing of nominally independent state agencies. Under the new law, upper and middle management civil servants will be classified as administrative staff, not civil servants, and can be hired and fired by the government at will. The Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association criticized the law for increasing the risk of the politicization of the civil service, and dozens of civil servants reported being dismissed without cause or in retaliation for previous criticism of government policies on 31 December and in early January 2025. Public competition will also no longer be required for these posts and candidates will not have to meet previously legislated competency requirements. All civil servants will be evaluated biannually instead of annually and two consecutive unsatisfactory evaluations will result in dismissal.

Sources: Civil.ge (1), Publika, Civil.ge (2), OC Media

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Global ranking per category of democratic performance in 2024

Chevron
Representation
99/173
Rights
77/173
Rule of Law
93/173
Participation
105/173

Basic Information

Chevron
Population Tooltip
3 715 483
System of government
Semi-Presidential system
Head of government
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze (since 2024)
Head of government party
Georgian Dream
Electoral system for lower or single chamber
List Proportional Representation
Women in lower or single chamber
22.0%
Women in upper chamber
Not applicable
Last legislative election
2024
Effective number of political parties Tooltip
3.04
Head of state
President Mikheil Kavelshvili (de facto)
Selection process for head of state
Indirect election (parliament + regional/local representatives)
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) date
26/01/2021
Latest Universal Periodic Review (UPR) percentage of recommendations supported
90.18%
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Human Rights Treaties

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State Party State party
Signatory Signatory
No Action No action
United Nations Human Right Treaties
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
State Party
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
State Party
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
State Party
Convention on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women
State Party
Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment
State Party
Convention on the Rights of the Child
State Party
International Convention on Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families
No Action
International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance 
No Action
International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
State Party
International Labour Organisation Treaties
Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention
State Party
Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention
State Party
Equal Remuneration Convention
State Party
Abolition of Forced Labour Convention
State Party
Discrimination (Employment and Occupation) Convention
State Party
Convention concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment
State Party
Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention
State Party
Regional Treaties
Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 4 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 6 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 7 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 12 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
Protocol No. 13 to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
State Party
in
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Performance by category over the last 6 months

Representation neutral Representation
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Representation neutral Rights
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Representation neutral Rule of law
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Representation neutral Participation
Dec 2024
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Global State of Democracy Indices

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Explore the indices
Representation
Representation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rights
Rights
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Rule of Law
Rule of Law
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4
Participation
Participation
0
/1
high 0.7-1.0
mid 0.4-0.7
low 0.0-0.4

Factors of Democratic Performance Over Time

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