Mikheil Kavelashvili Withdraws Constitutional Lawsuit Against Foreign Agents’ Law
On March 24, Georgian Dream elected President Mikheil Kavelashvili withdrew the constitutional complaint filed by Georgia’s fifth President Salome Zurabishvili seeking the annulment of the law on foreign agents.
A press release from Kavelashvili’s office said that the law was “based on transparency and accountability, which contributes to the protection of the most important principle of Georgian statehood – the national sovereignty of the state and the stable development of the country”.
The release also said the law aims to inform the public about the sources of funding for civil society organizations, which it claims “pursue the interests of foreign powers.”
President Zurabishvili had appealed to the Georgian Constitutional Court on July 15, 2024 to repeal the Foreign Agents Law, arguing that it violated Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which requires constitutional bodies to take all measures to ensure Georgia’s full integration into the EU and NATO, as well as other constitutional rights.
Two days later, on July 17, 121 local civil society and media organizations also challenged the law in the Constitutional Court, seeking its repeal. They also sought a temporary suspension of the law’s unconstitutional clauses pending the Constitutional Court’s final ruling. The temporary suspension however was rejected by the Court on October 9, 2024.
The controversial law, which was passed on May 28, 2024 and enacted on June 3, 2024 requires CSOs and media outlets that receive at least 20% of their funding from foreign sources to register as entities “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”. The law was met with wide resistance by the civil society and media organizations, many of which refused to register as foreign agents. The law has not been fully enforced.
On February 24, 2025, Georgian Dream registered a new legislative initiative, the Foreign Agents Registration Act. GD Majority Leader Mamuka Mdinaradze described it as an “exact copy” of the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). The bill is intended to replace Georgia’s existing law on foreign agents.
More than 100 civil society organizations (CSOs) said that the FARA to be adopted by Georgian Dream is a “repackaged Russian law” [Foreign Agents law] targeting the civil sector and independent media and stated that they will not “live and work under Russian laws”.
The law has been already approved in two readings by the rump GD parliament.
Also Read:
- 17/05/2024 – Adopted “Agents Law” Differs from the Original, Foresees Personal Fines – Experts
- 17/04/2024 – International Reactions to Reintroduction of Draft Law on Foreign Agents
- 11/04/2024 – US FARA vs. Georgian Foreign Agents Law: Three Major Differences
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