Non-governmental organizations have filed a lawsuit against the Anti-Corruption Bureau with the Tbilisi City Court. The NGOs are demanding that the May 31 order of the head of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Razhden Kuprashvili, be declared invalid, on the basis of which an investigation is underway against them.
As Giorgi Burjanadze, legal advisor to the Civil Society Foundation, stated at a joint briefing today, by the May 31 order, Razhden Kuprashvili granted himself and the Anti-Corruption Bureau more powers than are specified in the Foreign Agents Registration Act.
“He can initiate investigations, inspections, and apply to the court for seizure of organizations that he believes should not be registered in the relevant registry. Such powers are not spelled out in the Foreign Agents Registration Act and were adopted without a formal legislative basis.
This leads to a violation of the rights of organizations working in the interests of the Georgian people, as our rights are being restricted based on norms adopted in violation of the legislation and the Constitution.
We request the Tbilisi City Court to declare certain provisions of the May 31, 2025 order invalid on the basis of their illegality, based on the General Administrative Code,” said Giorgi Burjanadze.
In addition, according to the NGOs, their request is fully confirmed by the legal opinion of the Council of Europe’s Special Expert Council (Conference of INGOs), which was published yesterday. As Burjanadze noted, according to the opinion, the Foreign Agents Registration Act violates freedom of association and expression, and the right to privacy, including because the vague provisions in the law allow for multiple restrictions on human rights.
“The conclusion discusses eight additional reasons why the Foreign Agents Registration Act violates human rights, including the severity of the sanction, which provides for a greater penalty than the law of the Russian Federation, which was assessed by the European Court of Human Rights as contrary to human rights on this very basis.
We intend to use all legal levers at our disposal to oppose the repressed laws and allow us to continue our activities beneficial to the Georgian people and the state,” said Giorgi Burjanadze.
