Court temporarily suspends disputed regulation on electronic ID cards, opposition protests
Electronic ID documents have been issued in Georgia since 2011. Photo: Ministry of Justice press office.
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The Georgian Constitutional Court has accepted a lawsuit of two citizens of Georgia on the rule of issuing identification documents in Georgia, and before the final verdict is delivered, people will be able to receive both electronic and non-electronic IDs.
Plaintiffs Nana Sepashvili and Ia Rekhviashvili dispute the rule of issuing ID cards and biometric passports in Georgia, which bans access to the documents without electronic transmission of information.
They state that the rule violates the constitutional rights of religious people, who see electronic documents as the “lever for exercising control on people in the era of apocalypses”.
The opposition has linked the court’s decision on the temporary suspension of the regulation to the Georgian Dream government, stating that the current state leadership will allegedly use the removal of the ban to fabricate votes in the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Vice Parliament’s majority party speaker Giorgi Volski has responded that the “court’s decision has nothing to do with the government and the statement is absolutely ungrounded and absurd.”
Religious people and the church have been demanding the issuing of non-electronic identification documents, together with electronic ones, since 2011.
The plaintiffs say that many religious people in Georgia refuse to accept electronic ID documents, which automatically deprives them of a range of vital necessities and services, and restricts their religious freedoms.
The Georgian Ministry of Justice announced today that Georgian citizens who live abroad will be able to receive ID cards for free and passports for $50.
Georgia’s Minister of Justice Thea Tsulukiani claims the country is "absolutely ready” to introduce an electronic voting (e-voting) system if Parliament of Georgia and the general public accept the innovation.
The Ministry of Justice of Georgia handed an updated list electoral list to the Georgian Central Election Commission (CEC), which showed as of May 1, 2016 there were 3.53 million eligible voters in Georgia.
Today the Ministry of Justice sent an updated and corrected election data to the Central Election Commission (CEC), meaning officials will have a list accompanied by photos for the first time in its election history.
The Georgian Justice Ministry has allowed for the issuance of one-month, non-electronic ID cards for religious people, following a decision of the Georgian Constitutional Court last week which accepted the lawsuit protesting the current rule of issuing identification documents in Georgia.
The United National Movement opposition party has called upon the Central Election Commission of Georgia not to allow voting by non-electronic IDs during the 2020 parliamentary elections.
The United National Movement opposition party has called upon the Central Election Commission of Georgia not to allow voting by non-electronic IDs during the 2020 parliamentary elections.
Rati Bregadze, the candidate for the Minister of Justice of Georgia, on Monday announced citizens would be able to replace their older, laminated ID cards with new electronic versions free of charge.