Georgia’s Public Defender has described the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) report on the country’s new protest legislation as highly critical, highlighting concerns that the amendments contradict international human rights standards.
According to the Public Defender’s statement, the report raises alarms over multiple new restrictions on the right to peaceful assembly, emphasizing that any limitations should be clearly defined, necessary, and proportionate. The OSCE specifically criticized provisions that tighten administrative and criminal penalties, introduce excessive fines, and impose blanket bans on certain forms of protest, such as spontaneous gatherings and the use of face coverings.
”According to the report, other grounds for restricting assemblies should be reassessed or, at the very least, more carefully and narrowly defined to ensure they are clearly specified, strictly necessary, and proportionate, without imposing an undue impact on the right to peaceful assembly,” the statement of the Public Defender reads.
The OSCE review was conducted following a formal request from the Public Defender, who sought an independent legal opinion on the amendments. The changes, passed by the ruling Georgian Dream party on February 6, introduced tougher restrictions on protesters, including:
* Mandatory immediate notification for spontaneous assemblies.
* A ban on demonstrations in indoor venues without written consent from the property owner.
* Prohibitions on installing temporary structures at protest sites.
* A blanket ban on face coverings, including masks, during demonstrations.
* Harsh criminal and administrative penalties, including extending detention from 15 to 60 days and significantly increasing fines for violations.
The OSCE report strongly criticizes the rushed nature of the legislative process, noting that the amendments were adopted without meaningful public consultation. It also warns that the disproportionate penalties introduced by the law could themselves amount to a violation of the right to peaceful assembly as enshrined in Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
In response, the OSCE called on Georgian authorities to revise or repeal the most restrictive provisions and abolish extended administrative detention, while also reducing fines for minor infractions, particularly for minors.
