President’s Objections to the Law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence”

In accordance with the Constitutional provisions, President Salome Zurabishvili has duly submitted her motivated objections to the Law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” passed on May 14, 2024. Civil.ge reviewed the text of her objections and is providing a point-by-point summary:

• The law is repeating the spirit of the Russian law. It is identical to the draft that was recalled on March 10, 2023, and a simple omission of the term “agent” by its legal definition, “acting in the foreign interests,” does not alter its legal spirit, which, in accordance to the conclusions of OSCE/ODIHR, contradicts the basic human rights and freedoms.
• The law is anti-constitutional, inasmuch as:
  • It contradicts Article 22 on freedom of association: By enforcing self-stigmatisation and creating conditions for restricting the activities and eventually abolishing the organizations it applies to.
  • It contradicts Article 15, which provides for the inviolability of private and family life, private space, and communications by containing a provision to disclose private data from the specially protected category.
  • It contradicts Article 11 on equality: the law is discriminatory to a specific segment of organizations without sufficient legal justification. President refers to the conclusion of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the similar provision of the Hungarian law.
  • It contradicts Article 78, obliging the government to act in the interests of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, inasmuch as it has been rejected by the European Union’s official bodies in its form and content.

President concludes that “it is impossible to improve this law” since it is “anti-constitutional, therefore anti-Georgian, anti-European and anti-democratic.” Therefore, concludes the President, there is no alternative to withdrawing this law, in accordance to the will of the Georgian people.

She proposes to terminate the law as rapidly as possible after its enactment and therefore amends the last article of the passed law (Article 11, para. 2) to read: “This Law shall be in force during one day from its publication.”

Also read:

• 18/05/24: President Vetoes Foreign Agents’ Law
• 16/05/24: International Reactions to Final Adoption of Foreign Agents Law

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)