Parliament Committee Chair: ODIHR’s conclusion on transparency law “lacks” legal arguments

Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Friday said the recent conclusion of the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights on the transparency of foreign influence law “lacks arguments” on its “incompatibility” with human rights standards. 

Botchorishvili’s comments to the Public Broadcaster followed the ODIHR’s statement, which on Thursday concluded that Georgia’s newly approved law on transparency of foreign influence contained “serious deficiencies” that made it “incompatible” with international human rights standards and the country’s commitments as an OSCE state. 

She said there were only general phrases and conclusions in the document and the Office’s opinion was “not based on any arguments to which extent” the law contradicted human rights standards. This conclusion “once again reinforces the attitude aimed at political assessments of this process, lacking legal arguments regarding its incompatibility with human rights standards”, she emphasised.

The Committee Chair also referred to the opinion of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, published last week, which “strongly recommended” the Georgian Government to repeal the controversial legislative piece in its current form, saying it “was based” on the opinions of the imprisoned former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili's lawyer.

This says a lot about why we have questions regarding the impartiality of experts hired by international organisations. [...] In fact, behind them are people who are directly connected with the [opposition] United National Movement [party], and the international organisations’ conclusions are made based on their opinions”, she added.

The OSCE/ODIHR on Thursday published its opinion on the Georgian controversial transparency law, which requires registration of non-commercial legal entities and media outlets in the country as “pursuing the interests of a foreign power” if they derive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad. The body called on the Georgian authorities to rescind the law and take steps to bring its legislation in line with international standards.

The Georgian Parliament on Tuesday overrode the veto of President Salome Zourabichvili on the controversial law - with 84 votes against four, on the backdrop of ongoing public protests.