The Coalition for an Independent and Transparent Judiciary is concerned about the decision of the Court of Appeals against Transparency International Georgia (TIG), where the Court found the views expressed in TIG’s study defamatory. If the decision remains in force, freedom of speech and expression and fundamental principles of human rights organizations’ work will be endangered.
In the study assessing corruption risks in the judiciary, the Court found the following statement, which was based on the analysis of a specific court decision, to be libelous: “[…] the renewal of the dispute in 2016 due to newly discovered circumstances raises questions about impartiality of adjudication.” The Court’s decision contradicts both the requirements of the law and the practice already established by the Supreme Court and the European Court of Human Rights. An unreasonable deviation from the already established, clear and consistent standard, and its drastic deterioration, raises important questions regarding the impartial administration of justice in this case.
If this court decision remains in force, it will restrict human rights organizations in performing their fundamental, controlling functions, in addition to considerably worsening the standard of protection of freedom of speech and expression. This will be a significant step backward in the democratic development of Georgia.
The signatory organizations hope that the Supreme Court will realize its role and importance in protection of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution and will not uphold the decision made by the Tbilisi Court of Appeals.
Members of the coalition:
Equality Movement
Rights Georgia
Multinational Georgia
Georgia Small and Medium Business Association
Civil Integration Foundation
Georgian Lawyers for Independent Profession
Business and Economic Center
International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy
Georgian Young Lawyers Association
Human Rights Center
Transparency International Georgia
Union of Meskhetian Democrats
Liberty Institute
Civil Development Agency
United Nations Association of Georgia
The European Law Students’ Association Georgia
Civil Society Institute
Open Society Georgia Foundation Georgia
Institute of Democracy
Institute of Development of Freedom of Information
Tbilisi Media Club
Human Rights Priority
Human Rights Education and Monitoring Center
Foundation for the Support of Legal Education
Institute of Civil Engagement
Association of Law Firms of Georgia
Association of Young Economists of Georgia
Europe Foundation
European Choice of Georgia
Partnership for Human Rights
Georgian Democratic Initiative
Sapari Union
Rehabilitation Initiative for Vulnerable Groups
Institute for Democracy and Safe Development (IDSD)
LLPL “Frema”
Psychological Rehabilitation Center for Victims of Torture “Empathy”
Liberal Academy Tbilisi
Tolerance and Diversity Institute (TDI)
Democracy Research Institute (DRI)
ვებ-გვერდი შექმნილია RFSU-ს ფინანსური მხარდაჭერით.
სიდა, შვედეთის განვითარების სააგენტო, მთლიანად ან ნაწილობრივ აფინანსებს ამ მასალას.
