The fight against the Russian-style Foreign Agents Law continues in the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) after the country’s Constitutional Court refused to suspend the law.
Specifically, 16 media organizations, 120 civil society organizations, and four individuals will file a joint complaint with the ECHR, Nona Kurdovanidze, the Director of the Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association (GYLA), announced at a briefing on October 17.
Announcing a “new stage” in the fight against the law, she said: “The Russian law aims not only to stifle civil society and the media, but also to divide citizens and silence critical voices. The plaintiff organizations work on social issues such as environmental protection, the rights of people with disabilities, judicial reforms, the fight against corruption, investigative journalism, the protection of women and children from violence, etc.”
The plaintiffs will argue that several rights under the European Convention on Human Rights have been violated. These are: Freedom of assembly and association (Article 11); Freedom of expression (Article 10); Right to respect for private and family life (Article 8); Prohibition of discrimination (Article 14); Right to an effective remedy (Article 13); Limitation on the use of restrictions on rights (Article 18).
“Fighting against the independent organizations with Russian methods not only violates basic human rights but also undermines the unwavering choice of the Georgian people for integration into Euro-Atlantic structures,” Kurdovanidze said.
She lamented that the Constitutional Court “refuses to do its duty” by not suspending the anti-constitutional law, but added that the CSOs’ fight against the law continues. “This law will definitely be repealed,” she concluded.
The Constitutional Court of Georgia decided to accept the appeals against the Foreign Agents Law for substantive review, but refused to temporarily suspend the law, finding no irreparable harm in its current operation.
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