On December 14, 2023, the Constitutional Court granted the constitutional lawsuit[1] of the Public Defender of Georgia and declared unconstitutional the obligation of the organizers of spontaneous assemblies/demonstrations to notify the executive body of the municipality about the organization of a spontaneous assembly/demonstration 5 days before it is held.

In particular, the normative content of paragraph 1 of Article 8 of the Law of Georgia on Assemblies and Demonstrations, which provides for the obligation to notify the executive body of the municipality no later than 5 days before the assembly/demonstration is held, was declared unconstitutional in relation to paragraph 1 of Article 21 of the Constitution of Georgia, in cases when it is not possible to timely notify the relevant body given the spontaneity of the assembly/demonstration.

It is significant that with the said decision, the plenum of the Constitutional Court changed the practice previously established by case law, which did not consider the right to hold unhindered spontaneous demonstration at the places where transport or people move, without prior warning, to be part of the sphere protected by paragraph 1 of Article 21 of the Constitution of Georgia.[2]

According to the Constitutional Court, the historical experience of Georgia shows that the right to assembly and demonstration is of special importance for the Georgian society. For decades, public assemblies have been an effective and frequently-used means of protecting state interests, forming public opinion, expressing protest, uniting or fighting around ideas and values.[3]

According to the decision of the Constitutional Court, the freedom of assembly protected by Article 21 of the Constitution of Georgia protects the right to both pre-organized and spontaneous assembly/demonstration, since the effectiveness of assemblies and demonstrations in certain cases requires avoiding time delays and immediate expression of public reaction, respectively, the right to conduct spontaneous assembly/demonstration, including on the roadway or by disrupting traffic, falls within the protected area of freedom of assembly and demonstration.[4]

[1] Judgement No. 3/3/1635 of the Constitutional Court of Georgia of December 14, 2023 in the case of the Public Defender of Georgia v. the Parliament of Georgia. Available at: https://www.constcourt.ge/ka/judicial-acts?legal=16052;

[2] The standard established by Judgement No. 2/2/180-183 of the Constitutional Court of Georgia of November 5, 2002 and Record No. 4/482,483,487,502 of November 10, 2010;

[3] Judgement No. 3/3/1635 of the Constitutional Court of Georgia of December 14, 2023, II-7;

[4] Ibid., II-9;