The Georgian Parliament adopted legislation that grants the Constitutional Court the authority to prohibit individuals associated with banned political parties from forming or joining political parties, standing as candidates in elections or holding any public office. Legislation passed in May 2025 already allows the Court to ban any political party it sees as aiming to ‘overthrow or change Georgia’s constitutional order by force, undermine the country’s independence, violate its territorial integrity, engage in war or violence propaganda, incite national, regional, religious, or social strife’. It can also ban parties that it sees as identical to a party already subject to such a ban. Officials from the ruling Georgian Dream Party have said the purpose of the legislation is to empower it to ban the country’s three major opposition parties, which it accuses, without evidence, of seeking to overthrow the state, and that it intends to file a lawsuit to begin the process in the immediate future. 

Sources: First Channel, Civil Georgia, OC Media, Parliament of Georgia 

The Georgian government froze seven leading civil society organizations’ (CSO) bank accounts on 27 August, as part of anti-corruption and tax inspections it has undertaken on nearly every high-profile CSO in the country since the country’s Foreign Agent Registration Act came into effect in June. The freezes are part of a case alleging the CSOs are engaged in ‘sabotage’ by allegedly purchasing protective materials for anti-government protesters and paying arrested protesters’ fines and legal fees. In statements, the affected CSOs denied the charges and said the protective materials in question were purchased for their own staff, as their mandate as human rights monitors required them to monitor protests. In March 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office froze the bank accounts of other CSOs that had financially supported protesters, but has not yet provided any evidence to support the current charges.

Sources: Eurasianet, OC Media, International IDEA

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.

Update: Zurab Japaridze and two other opposition politicians were sentenced to eight months in prison on 23 June for failing to comply with the parliamentary committee’s summons. Japaridze and Mamuka Khazaradze and Badri Japaridze (no relation) of Lelo Party were also banned from holding public office for two years. Five other opposition politicians are still awaiting sentencing.

Sources: OC Media (1), OC Media (2), OC Media (3), Parliament of Georgia, International IDEA, Civil.ge

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)