Georgia's constitutional court will decide whether controversial foreign agent law violates constitution

The Constitutional Court of Georgia has declined a motion to suspend the foreign agent law pending a final ruling on its constitutionality. On Wednesday, the court announced it had agreed to hear the case against the law, more than a month after four separate lawsuits against it were filed and merged into one appeal. According to their decision, none of the law’s articles will be suspended until the case is resolved. Two of the eight judges, Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze and Teimuraz Tughushi, dissented from this opinion, having supported the suspension of the law. The court ruled that a portion of the claims that the foreign agent law violated the constitution should be heard. These included claims that the law violates articles of the constitution on integration with Europe and Euro-Atlantic structures; the inviolability of personal and family life; freedom of opinion and expression, as well as freedom of mass media; the legitimate purpose of limiting freedom of expression; and freedom of association. The court will also determine if the law’s retroactive application to the previous year is constitutional or not.
Read the full article here: OC Media