On January 9, 2018, the Public Defender of Georgia established a case of direct discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and area of activity in relation to a private person, as he/she did not rent an office to the NGO Equality 17 due to the fact that they work on LGBT issues.

In the recommendation, the Public Defender provided a definition of the principle of freedom of contract according to the civil law - the freedom of contract protects the person's right to decide whether or not to sign a contract in connection with any property right, determine contract terms and choose the party of the contract. However, the recommendation also says that this principle can be restricted on the basis of imperative standards. In particular, the Law on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination indicates that discrimination is prohibited in all areas, including in the pre-contractual relations.

Taking into consideration the above, the Public Defender called on the respondent to refrain from discriminatory treatment in contractual relations on grounds of sexual orientation and area of activity, or any other ground, and to observe the principle of equality in the future.