Georgia opposition party set to launch legal action against controversial foreign agent law News
Zlad!, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Georgia opposition party set to launch legal action against controversial foreign agent law

Georgian media site Radio Free Europe (Radio Limited) revealed on Sunday that Georgia’s largest opposition party, United National Movement, intends to file a challenge against the state’s new foreign agent law on July 29.

The controversial legislation challenged by the party requires media, non-profits, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) receiving greater than 20 percent of their funding abroad to register themselves as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power”. The bill received significant backlash from both citizens and the international community for stifling freedom of expression and association, with mass protests erupting within the state capital of Tbilisi as a response. The bill was eventually enacted into law on June 4, 2024, despite having to overcome a veto by current President Salome Zourabichvili to ensure its legal status.

The imposition of the law subsequently resulted in Georgia’s accession process into the European Union (EU) being halted, with the High Representative of the European Commission stating the law “goes against EU core principles and values”. The European Council also later voted to freeze funding of 30 million Euros to the state in response.

The lawsuit, set to be submitted to the Constitutional Court, follows Independent President Zourabichvili’s own challenge to the law, filed on July 16. The President claims the law breaches Article 78 of the Georgian Constitution, which obliges authorities to act to support Georgia’s candidacy for EU integration. Radio Free Europe revealed that the United National Movement Lawsuit was signed by 32 of the opposition lawmakers on July 22, though it is unclear whether the challenge is based on the same grounds as the President’s action. The party’s challenge to the law is consistent with its historical support of Euro-Atlantic integration and membership of the European Peoples Party.

The lawsuits appear likely to be accompanied by numerous other objections to the law, as it was further reported that several NGOs hope to challenge the law through action with the Constitutional Court and complaints to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which decided in 2022 that a similar law imposed by Russia had breached the right to association.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Justice Department brings anit-trust action against AT&T

On November 20, 1974, the Department of Justice filed its final anti-trust suit against AT&T. United States v. AT&T was ultimately settled out of court with an agreement that the corporation would break up its monopoly on phone service throughout the country.

Nuremberg war crimes trials began

On November 20, 1945, the war crimes trials of Nazi World War II leaders began in the German city of Nuremberg. Review the Nuremberg Tribunal's Charter and the verdicts and sentences handed down on major war figures.

Winston Churchill born

On November 20, 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was born in Woodstock, England. He would go on to lead the United Kingdom as Prime Minister through World War II. Toward the end of the war, Churchill worked with US President Franklin D. Roosevelt to craft the treaties and accords that have defined the world since WWII. A 2002 poll by the BBC declared Churchill the Greatest Briton of all time.

New Jersey ratifies Bill of Rights

New Jersey ratified the Bill of Rights, a set of 10 fundamental amendments to the US Constitution, on November 20, 1789, becoming the first state to do so. The state also ratified an amendment on federal representation which ultimately failed. Additionally, New Jersey rejected an amendment on congressional salaries, which would eventually become the 27th Amendment more than 200 years later. Read the articles ratified by New Jersey.