Tbilisi. Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary calls on the Georgian parliament. “We call on the Parliament of Georgia to recognize the existing problems in the judiciary and, by taking into account the recommendations of the Venice Commission, to promptly start the fundamental reform of the judicial system, which will contribute to the fulfillment of the European Commission’s twelve recommendations”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. According to the TI Georgia the manner in which the Georgian government reaches decisions remains opaque. “In 2022, the Government of Georgia considered 372 draft decrees at 47 meetings. None of these decrees have been made public. 40% of government decrees issued in 2022 – 150 out of 372 – dealt with the transfer of state property to concrete entities, which contains clear corruption risks. The government's failure to release documents and respond to public information requests constitutes a violation of at least three laws”. Read more... Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The report of the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) presents an assessment of the availability of public information in Georgia based on data from 2022. The report also includes an analysis of the trends in the release of public information in 2010-2022 and the rating of access to public information in public institutions. “According to the monitoring conducted by IDFI in 2022, the quality of access to public information in the country has decreased significantly compared to the previous year. The rate of responses (58%) from public institutions in 2022 is the lowest observed since 2010. There was an established practice of a critical threshold of 80% on the rate of responses after 2013, which was successfully maintained until 2022”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. Under the USAID Civil Society Engagement Program the International Center of Non-Profit Law (ICNL) and the European Center for Non-Profit Law (ECNL) prepared the comparative analysis of the draft Law of Georgia on Transparency of Foreign Influence (the Draft Law) regarding its compliance with international law and European standards (Analysis).  Brief version is available here… full analysis… Source: ewmi-activism.org

Tbilisi. On February 10, the Parliament of Georgia adopted a new law “On Public Procurement” in the third hearing. The following article contains an overview of some of the substantial changes introduced by the new law. A detailed analysis of the introduced legislation can be read in the document attached to the article. Learn more… Source: idfi.ge

Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti. According to Transparency International Georgia, Builder 21 Ltd., a company associated with Bachuki Nakani, the Chairperson of the Commission for Economic Issues and Tourism Development at the Mestia City Council, was awarded GEL 1,212,404 worth of local procurement contracts, including GEL 578,989, after Bachuki Nakani had been elected to the position. TI Georgia calls on the Anti-Corruption Agency of the State Security Service to examine the involvement of Builder 21 Ltd. in Mestia municipality procurements to see whether there are any indications of potential corruption. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. This report provides an overview of how anti-Western and pro-Russian disinformation narratives are disseminated in Georgia, who the main disseminators are, and how the Georgian government is countering them in the face of ongoing challenges. “The Georgian government is not effective in combating disinformation. There is no political will to tackle the problem. It is crucial to update and prepare strategic documents on disinformation and security (National Strategy on Countering Hybrid Threats, National Security Concept) to respond to modern challenges and growing disinformation threats”, is noted in the report made by Transparency International Georgia. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. According to Transparency International's 2022 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Georgia has a score of 56 points, which is a one point increase compared to the previous year. In the past, the country had 56 points 3 times: in 2017, 2019 and 2020. Georgia ranks 41st among 180 countries included in the ranking. A one-point change in CPI is considered statistically insignificant. In the case of Georgia, the score has not improved significantly since 2012 (see graph below), which means that the country has not taken effective steps against corruption in the last 10 years. Georgia's result in the ranking is mainly due to the low level of petty corruption, however, at the same time, elite corruption and the lack of political will to fight it remain a challenge. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI's report assesses the proactive access of public information in Georgia as of November-December 2022 and outlines the main trends and tendencies of proactive access to information compared to previous years. The report also includes proactive transparency ratings of public institutions. In 2022, the average compliance rate of proactive accessibility of public information is 60%, 4% higher than in 2021 and it 11% lower compared to the same indicator from 2014; In 2022, only three public institutions (Financial-Analytical Service, National Statistics Service, and the National Center for Educational Quality Enhancement) had fully (100%) published information in compliance with the requirements of the relevant legal act; Among central public institutions, the lowest compliance was demonstrated by the Administration of the Government (34%), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (35%), and the Office of the State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality (30%). The publication of the information related to the management of finances remains the most problematic topic in this regard; Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI held yet another training to support public participation in the oversight activities of the Supreme Council of Ajara. This time training covered Thematic Inquiry and was offered to the representatives of civil society organizations and the staff of the Ajara Supreme Council. The training covered both theoretical and practical aspects of the issue. The participants learned about the significance of the Thematic Inquiry, the process, and stages of its planning and implementation, ways to involve third parties in the process, and in the form in which the responses to the inquiry should be sent. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On December 5-8, 2022, representatives of civil society organizations visited Brussels. The obligations assumed by the Association Agreement and the European Commission’s 12 recommendations were the two main subjects of the meetings with the EU institutions. Since 2014, various civil society organizations, led by the Open Society Georgia Foundation, have been monitoring the fulfillment of the responsibilities undertaken by Georgia under the Association Agreement and the Association Agenda and reporting the findings to the EU institutions. Within the framework of the visit, representatives of the civil society held meetings with representatives of the European Commission, the European Parliament, the EU External Action Service, the EU member states accredited in Brussels, the Office of the President of the European Council, and the think tanks. The meetings were focused on areas that are fundamental for the progress and development of the country, such as justice, the fight against corruption, media freedom, children’s rights, and other important issues. Read more… Source: osgf.ge

Tbilisi. December 9 is the International Anti-Corruption Day. Last year, Transparency International Georgia wrote that if left unchecked, corruption was expected to rise, which would cause more and more damage to the country, including creating more obstacles for its democratic development. According to the organization’s assessment, unfortunately, their predictions have come to pass. “The fact that the problem of high-level corruption was included in the 12 priorities set by the European Commission for Georgia is the result of it having gone unchecked for years. That is why the fight against corruption was named as one of the clear prerequisites for Georgia receiving the EU membership candidate status. Despite this reality, no effective steps have been taken in the last year to tackle corruption, especially high level corruption and state capture. On the contrary, we have observed the deepening of kleptocracy, where government officials use their political power to appropriate the wealth of the country. More and more cases of alleged high-level corruption are coming to light and are ignored by relevant authorities”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Since Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and Georgia’s application for EU membership and the Commission’s decision regarding the candidate status, anti-Western messages have particularly strengthened in Georgia. Along with pro-Russian and ultra-right groups, members of the parliamentary majority are no longer shying away from attacks on the country's Western partners. Four deputies who left the ruling party in June 2022 founded the public movement "People's Power", which is distinguished with anti-Western messages. The “Georgian Dream’s” improper dissent of former members’ anti-Western statements and, in some cases, the concurrence of messages, raised doubts in public about the formal nature of the movement's separation from the ruling party. In order to study the statements of "People's Power" and the government representatives’ responses to them, ISFED analyzed political posts published on the Facebook pages of the television companies of PosTV and Imedi as the main communication channels of the mentioned actors. The results of the research… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. From September 2021 to March 2022 Georgian decision-makers had two concrete proposals on the table regarding the forest in Racha: 1. The first proposal came from a businessman with Russian ties who had not fulfilled his previous obligations to the State and who offered to pay GEL 11 per hectare. 2. The second proposal came from a reputable international fund that has previously invested EUR 8.5 million in the conservation of Georgia’s nature and is paying a guaranteed USD 45 (about GEL 149.2) per hectare, or 13 times as much as the first proposal. It should have been simple to make a decision that would bring the State the maximum benefit – specifically, the creation of a protected area with maximum territory and, only after this, the issuance of a hunting license for the remaining territory. With the decision that was made, the Georgian State lost a revenue of about GEL 2,057,593. The organization calls on the Office of the Prosecutor General of Georgia to launch an investigation and to establish whether the decisions related to the management of the forest in Racha contain signs of corruption. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On November 17, 2022, the Steering Group of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development Anti-Corruption Network (OECD/ACN) endorsed the OECD/ACN Fifth Round Monitoring Assessment Framework, which will examine the anti-corruption environment in OECD/ACN member countries. According to Georgian Civil Society Organizations, unfortunately, unlike other OECD/ACN member countries (Ukraine, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Tajikistan), the Government of Georgia did not participate in the process of adopting the fifth round monitoring assessment framework. If the Government of Georgia does not agree to adopt the framework of the assessment already accepted by all the countries of the network by the end of 2022, the fifth round of monitoring under the istanbul Anti-Corruption action plan will no longer be carried out in Georgia in 2023. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. TI Georgia has researched the political donations from January 1 to September 30, 2022. According to the research, during this period, all political parties in Georgia received 1,944,073 GEL in donations, of which 666,000 GEL (34%) went to the ruling party, the second place is "Conservative Movement" ("Alt-Info") with 393,661 GEL, and the third - "Lelo for Georgia" with 370,600 GEL. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Institute for Development of Freedom of Information publishes the research: Access to Public Information by the Media: Legislation v. Reality. “It was revealed during the course of the project that there are practical-normative problems of a systemic nature in terms of obtaining information on issues of interest to the media. Ignoring both formal and material requirements of the legislation regulating freedom of information is a regular occurrence. The number of public institutions that attempt to comply with the requirements of the legislation as much as possible is exceptionally low. There is about a 12% probability that information on issues of interest to the media will be provided fully and within the timeframe stipulated in the law. The degree of arbitrariness in public institutions is high. This may be due to the lack of effective judicial or external administrative control. In some cases, it appears that complete ignorance of public information requests is a proven practice of a public institution. The effectiveness of judicial oversight is significantly reduced by the length of timeframes stipulated by law for the consideration of a case, as well as by the courts’ disregard of these terms. The systemic problems discussed above essentially worsen the quality of access to public information on matters of media interest. On a practical level, there is no expectation that the media will be able to obtain information on an issue of its interest within the timeframe stipulated by the law. The cases of compliance with the requirements of the legislation regulating freedom of information by a public institution are exceptional”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Adjara. Transparency International Georgia examined asset declarations of the Government and Members of the Supreme Council of Adjara public officials submitted in 2021-2022 and identified inaccuracies in 39% of declarations. 24 out of 62 public officials in the office inaccurately submitted asset declarations. 12 officials did not indicate real estate in the declaration owned by him/her and/or his/her family member. 12 officials did not declare their own and/or family members’ business interests – being a shareholder and director of a company. 11 public officials did not delegate the right to manage shares in the private companies to other persons. 4 public officials did not disclose received remuneration during their tenure. 3 public officials received income from activities restricted by the law. 2 public officials - members of the Supreme Council, Ilia Verdzadze and Fridon Putkaradze took into consideration inaccuracies indicated in our 2019 research, however, the Chairman of the Government Tornike Rizhvadze ignored violations in his asset declaration identified in our 2020 research. Hence, Transparency International Georgia calls on Civil Service Bureau to examine asset declarations of the persons named in the study and respond to the identified issues in a timely and comprehensive manner. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Watch USAID’s animated series to learn about being an engaged citizen. Today the organization presents the episode that covers citizen oversight. Stay tuned for other episodes. “Animated clips explain the principles of democracy and can be used in the classroom to make the teaching and learning process more fun and easier to understand. In addition, the animated clips promote the importance of civic education, raise awareness, and encourage students to engage in civic life. USAID created this series as part of its Civic Education Matters Campaign. We are working together with Georgians to promote citizen engagement with Georgia's democracy and to build democratic institutions that are responsive to citizen needs”. Read more… Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The Coalition for Independent and Transparent Judiciary reacts to the re-election of Levan Murusidze and Dimitri Gvritishvili as members of the High Council of Justice by the Conference of Judges. “We believe these decisions strengthen the clan-based governance in the court and prevent the fundamental reform of the justice system, that, among other things, is included in the recommendations of the European Commission issued in response to Georgia's EU membership application”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. IDFI’s Transparent Public Procurement Rating (TPPR) project is now on Twitter. For several years now, the project has followed and assessed the quality of public procurement legislation in terms of transparency at the international level. To see news and updated regarding TPPR or public procurement in general, follow our twitter page here... Source: The organization’s page on the social network

Tbilisi. The report developed by Transparency International Georgia within the framework of the parliamentary monitoring project evaluates the performance of the Gender Equality Council (hereafter – the Council) in the Parliament of 10th Convocation in a period between 11 December 2020 and 1 June 2022 (hereafter – the reporting period). “From the point of view of the protection of women's rights the legislative initiatives developed by the Gender Equality Council of the Parliament should be evaluated positively. Also, the Council was actively involved in the working process of the thematic research groups. The full formation of the Council was carried out lately, which, according to Transparency International-Georgia, was an obstacle to its full functioning. The fulfillment of the important obligations stipulated by the action plan was also not implemented, and the government did not submit reports to the Council within the stipulated time. See the evaluation of the activities of the Gender Equality Council and our recommendations in detail in the report”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge