Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) considers that developments occurred in regard to approval of budgets for Batumi and Zugdidi for the year of 2022 raise doubts about legality of decisions made in conjunction with these processes in material terms. “Such a practice contradicts both democratic principles and the essence of local self-governance, reinforced by the Constitution, thus endangering perspective of democratic governance to be performed by population at the local level”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. On December 16, 2021, the Public Defender of Georgia published a special report – “Human Rights Education at the Higher Education Level in Georgia”. “The report reflects the results of the monitoring of the quality of human rights education in undergraduate law programmes and provides relevant recommendations to address shortcomings. The study showed that in most of the undergraduate programmes, basic human rights and freedoms are taught in only one compulsory subject. In addition, as a rule, the content of the subject is limited to the study of the rights reflected in the second chapter of the Constitution of Georgia, and in this process students are almost not required to analyze the rulings of the Constitutional Court”. Read more… Source: ombudsman.ge

Samtskhe-Javakheti. According to the information of the Transparency International Georgia Companies belonging to Georgian Dream members and donors, as well as family members of current and former public officials, receive state procurement in addition to the subsidies from the state program. “In 2018-2020, 17 such entities within the framework of Enterprise Georgia received approximately GEL 2,240,794 (one third of the amount spent in the region within the program). Among them, 9 entities received GEL 4,733,891 from state procurements at various times. 7 out of 17 entities donated 594,400 GEL to Georgian Dream”. Read more... Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. On December 15, representatives of the IDFI, CTC and MSDC presented the National Assessment of Georgian Municipalities 2021. “According to the results of the 2021 National Assessment of Transparency and Accountability of Georgian Municipalities, the average score of municipalities is 28% (on a 100% rating scale), which is equal to the 2019 assessment score. It can be thus said that, according to the data of 2021, the rate of transparency and accountability of municipalities has remained practically unchanged”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. In connection with International Human Rights Day, the Social Justice Center publishes an annual report on the human rights-related situation.  “The country entered the year of 2021 on the background of a continuous political crisis, which had not been defused by either the April 19 political agreement, signed through the mediation of international partners or the 2021 local self-government elections. In the agenda based on a political crisis, there appeared to be completely missed out the following issues: alarming human and social consequences of the pandemic; the dire social and economic situation existing in the country, which further aggravated on the background of an unprecedented scale of inflation; reforms aimed at protection of human rights and equality”, - is stated in the report. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. “Georgian Democracy Initiative” presents a report – “Human Rights in Georgia 2021”. The report contains a review of the situation in terms of protection of human rights in Georgia in 2021. In the document, there is a thematic overview of main developments and occurrences of the current year, which expose the extent to which the Government of Georgia fulfills its obligations in the field of human rights and the rule of law. Read more… Source: The website of the organization

Tbilisi. A new report by Transparency International Georgia indicates that undeclared business assets of Parliament members and incompatible activities with their status is a problematic issue in the Parliament of Georgia of the 10Th Convocation.  'We do not have the capacity to establish whether the undeclared companies are actually engaged in entrepreneurial activities and The Civil Service Bureau should be interested in this issue. As for the conflict of interests, this needs to be examined by the Parliamentary Committee of Procedural Issues and Rules', - is mentioned in the document. The information about MPs’ asset declarations and their shares in companies is given in the report as 16 September 2021. Read more…  Source: The webpage of the organization

Tbilisi. In connection with the Human Rights Day, GYLA publishes an appraisal of the situation related to protection of human rights in Georgia in 2021. “On December 10, the International Human Rights Day is observed. This date relates to the fact that took place 73 years ago when the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. GYLA traditionally presents main challenges identified in the field of human rights during the current year”, - is stated in the document, which contains a review of human rights in the country in socio-economic, educational, freedom of assembly and expression, environmental and electoral terms. Read more… Source: rights.ge

Tbilisi. International Anti-Corruption Day is celebrated on December 9. “This day is crucial for governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations, as well as for the whole society, to be reminded that joint cooperation is essential for the prevention of corruption. IDFI continues to actively promote the fight against corruption and works to raise the attention of relevant actors on important Anti-Corruption issues”. Learn more about IDFI's anti-corruption activities here… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. According to an article of the IDFI: most of the Anti-Corruption rankings published by international organizations in 2021 indicate that the corruption situation in Georgia is worsening. “In order to respond the existing challenges, it is important for Georgia to pay more attention to the fight against corruption; to adhere to the recommendations of international Anti-Corruption institutions". Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. December 9 is the International Anti-Corruption Day. Due to this day Transparency International Georgia releases a statement. “At one time, Georgia was recognized as a country successfully combating corruption. Progress made in the fight against bribery (petty corruption) is maintained to this day, which is an important achievement. However, at the same time, the country is seeing an alarming increase in more complex manifestations of corruption, such as: High-Level Corruption – participation of high-ranking officials or influential individuals associated with the ruling party in corruption-related violations; and State Capture – a situation when state institutions are not accountable to the country and its citizens and are, instead, serving the interests of influential private individuals". Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the process of Open Government Partnership (OGP), express concern about continued inaction on the part of the Government of Georgia, due to which the OGP process in Georgia has been suspended for over two years.  “We, the member NGOs of the Open Government Georgia Forum and the Coordination Council, call on the Government of Georgia to immediately restore the process of open government partnership and ensure effective involvement of NGOs in this process. Otherwise, it will become clear to everyone that the open government process, its mission and values are no longer a priority for the Government of Georgia. We also call on the OGP Secretariat (the Support Unit) to become actively engaged in resolving this lengthy crisis and to call on the Government of Georgia to take effective steps with the aim of restoring this process”, is noted in the statement. Read more… Source: civilin.org

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia has outlined enforcement of the “Law on Conflict of Interest and Corruption in Public Service” in practice referring to the example of ministries of Georgia. According to main findings: “In 2016-2020 years, there were not detected cases of corruption-related offence, conflict of interests, possession of unjustified property, acceptance of an offer prohibited by law and violation of restrictions related to gifts at ministries. Which fact signifies that detection of violations is not performed in practice. Only 1 case of position mismatch was identified. Development of a national anti-corruption policy, monitoring and coordination of implementation, as well as functioning of the Anti-Corruption Council have been suspended. The Secretariat of the Anti-Corruption Council does not really exist”, - is stated on the website of the organization. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Public Defender and an organization “Rights Georgia” have published a special report, which demonstrates results of monitoring of legal proceedings carried out at Tbilisi and Rustavi city courts. Project researchers monitored interrogation of women victims of domestic violence in 30 criminal cases. “Insufficient awareness about rights and support services is one of the complications that women victims of domestic violence face during interrogation in court”. Read more… Source: rights.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for the Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a study, which contains a review of the legal environment regulating personal data protection and cybersecurity in cyberspace. “The study provides evidence-based recommendations referring on the best European legal frameworks”. Read more... Source :idfi.ge

Tbilisi. At the 21st plenary session on October 26, 2021, the Anti-Corruption Network of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD/ACN) was planning to approve a report on the assessment of the anti-corruption environment in Georgia. However, the Georgian government refused to give its approval to the report and demanded additional time with the aim of amending the text of the document. This step of the Georgian authorities causes a serious damage to the country’s external image and to its long-standing productive relationship with the OECD/ACN. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia has studied current situation and key trends at the advertising market in 2020. The study contains an overview of how restrictions, imposed to eliminate spread of COVID-19, and finances, spent by political parties on advertising during the parliamentary elections, were reflected upon the advertising market. According to one of the findings: in 2020, compared to 2019, the television advertising market increased by GEL 7.7 million (11%) and amounted to GEL 75.2 million. The increase was mainly entailed by finances that political parties spent on television advertising during the parliamentary elections. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. The Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) publishes a periodic overview of the economy of Georgia. “The current overview provides the state of GDP, trade, remittances, foreign direct investments, exchange rates, budget, debt for nine months in 2021 and forecasts for the coming years”. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. OSCE/ODIHR and European Parliament releases the statement on the second round of the Georgian Local Government Election. “The second round of the local elections was generally well administered but continued polarization coupled with escalation of negative rhetoric adversely affected the process. The campaign was competitive and had a prominent national focus, overshadowing local issues. Candidates were generally able to campaign freely, but allegations of intimidation and pressure on voters persisted. Sharp imbalances in resources, and an undue advantage of incumbency further benefited the ruling party and tilted the playing field. Election day was generally calm and well administered, with a few instances of confrontation and mutual provocations between party supporters outside polling stations. Despite recent legislative amendments banning gatherings within 100 meters of a polling station, IEOM observers noted the presence, at times intimidating, of groups of individuals in the immediate surroundings of 29 per cent of the polling stations visited”. Read more… Source: www.osce.org

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia publishes a blog post: Donations received by political parties: Statistics and cases containing corruption risks. “From January 1 through October 25, 2021, 25 political parties received donations in the total amount of GEL 23 227 322, of which 71% - GEL 16 585 660 went to Georgian Dream, the second was Lelo with the amount of GEL 2 330 556, while the third - United National Movement with the amount of GEL 2 212 912. Legal entities that are donors of the ruling party and companies associated with contributing individuals won state tenders worth approximately GEL 155 million and received simplified public procurement contracts of the GEL 6 million value in total in 2021. Within the same period, these companies and donors, directly or indirectly affiliated with them, contributed up to GEL 3 million in favor of Georgian Dream”, - is stated in the blog post. Read more… Source: transparency.ge