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

Tbilisi. ISFED has presented the fourth interim report on social media monitoring. “It describes activities of Facebook pages of political parties participating in the elections and mayoral candidates of municipalities, as well as results of observation on anonymous and open Facebook pages operating for political and elections purposes, and other important trends”. Read more… Source: isfed.ge

Tbilisi. ISFED has presented the third interim report on social media monitoring. According to the report: “The website of Ana Dolidze was the most active among those of Tbilisi mayoral candidates. Interaction with posts shared on anti-opposition websites is almost 4 times higher than with those published on pages that act against the Georgian Dream. The highest amount for advertisements, about 127 thousand US dollars, was paid by the Georgian Dream. It is followed by the United National Movement (approximately 68 thousand US dollars) and Lelo (up to 36 thousand US dollars). Most of the ads on anonymous sites (188) were uploaded on pages that discredit opposition and costs for such activities vary from 2 520 to 2 619 US dollars”. Read more… Source:isfed.ge

Tbilisi. The purpose of IDFI’s following publication is to review the indicators of the Rule of Law Index in Georgia as of 2021, while comparing them to the previous years, to identify existing challenges, and to reveal underlying tendencies. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. According to the Women’s Information Center, in 2017, there was ratified the so-called “Istanbul Convention” in Georgia. A group of experts on action against violence against women and domestic violence (GREVIO) at the Council of Europe carries out monitoring of implementation of commitments made. Within the framework of an assessment of the current situation in Georgia, in particular the problem of sexual violence, non-governmental organizations submitted an alternative report to GREVIO. Read more… Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. According to the review made by the Social Justice Center, the ten-year document of the State Strategy for Civic Equality and Integration does not envisage substantially new and crucial perspectives in terms of legislative, institutional and political changes that would contribute to creation of a more equal and equitable political and social environment for non-dominant ethnic groups. Read more… Source: The website of the organization on a social network

Tbilisi. Social Justice Center presents an analytical document that has been prepared by employees of the organization on the basis of observation of election processes in Kvemo Kartli and Samtskhe-Javakheti regions during the pre-election period and on the day of the elections. “This document is an attempt to see those main challenges, problematic approaches and the “different” environment, in which citizens of Georgia, representing non-dominant ethnic groups, have to make their choice”. Read more… Source:socialjustice.org.ge

Tbilisi. The Human Rights Center has published an interim report: “Monitoring of trials of allegedly politically motivated cases”. “The interim report reflects results of monitoring of trials of allegedly politically motivated criminal and administrative cases that took place from February 1 to August 10, 2021. The report also incorporates results of monitoring of court hearings on the fact of attack on a media representative due to his professional activities (allegedly on political grounds)". Read more… Source:www.hrc.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), the organization demanded legal response to violations detected on the voting day and in the summary protocols in more than 350 cases. “GYLA demands recounting of data of all polling stations in the Isani district. The reason for such a demand is a circumstance, which has revealed various types of discrepancies in 4 cases at 5 recounted polling stations in the Isani district randomly selected in accordance with the obligation stipulated by law”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association within the framework of the Short-term Observation (STO) Mission provides the public with information about the events happening during the polling and the counting of votes.  “According to GYLA, procedural irregularities were observed at the various stage of the Election Day. The tense atmosphere in a number of polling stations during the day may have affected both the behavior of voters and the monitoring of the process itself. In some precincts, GYLA was deprived of an opportunity for monitoring; The facts of violating election regulations were revealed after the closure of polling stations too”. Read more… Source: gyla.ge

Tbilisi. Transparency International Georgia, the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, and the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics publish a joint report: Joint assessment of the pre-election environment of the 2021 municipal elections in Georgia. “As a summary, it can be stated that the pre-election environment was more or less competitive. All parties were able to run the election campaign, however, the ruling party enjoyed a greater advantage due to mobilization of administrative and other types of resources on its side. The pre-election environment got affected by a high number of facts of political pressure, threats, and dismissal from work or forced resignation, as well as by ineffective investigation of such cases by relevant state agencies”. Read more… Source: transparency.ge

Tbilisi. According to the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI), recommendations of the Venice Commission on amendments to the Law on Electronic Communications have not been fulfilled yet. “IDFI calls on the Parliament of Georgia, the Government of Georgia and the Georgian National Communications Commission to take respective steps to reflect recommendations of the Venice Commission and ensure that both the evaluation of impact of regulation is prepared as well as the Law on Electronic Communications is brought in compliance with the conclusion of the Commission”. Read more... Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. According to the World Bank, in 2020, Georgia obtained the highest score in Regulatory Quality out of six dimensions assessed, which is also the highest result achieved by Georgia in this dimension over the years. However, regress is detected in almost all other areas. The evaluation of Georgia in the dimension of Voice and Accountability fell below half of the maximum rating; as for Political Stability, the country constantly has the lowest score in this dimension, which is not even close to half of the maximum rating. Read more… Source: idfi.ge

Tbilisi. According to information released by the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy, in the wake of election processes, there has been observed organized activation and/or creation of anonymous pages and fake accounts on Facebook, posting damaging information and disseminating it in groups in a coordinated manner. They attempt to create information chaos on issues related to the elections and mislead voters. As the organization considers, the purpose of the campaign is to artificially create a background as if absurd disinformation allegations are being spread about the elections and, thus, cover-up objective criticism. People behind this campaign try to create information chaos, confuse voters and discredit critical opinions. Read more…  Source: isfed.ge