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.
