civicplays

The public research collection

Georgian Dream adopts amendments to Law on Grants through expedited procedure on April 16, 2025 — nine days after announcement (April 7). MECHANISM: prior government approval re…

← Civic Plays
summary
Georgian Dream adopts amendments to Law on Grants through expedited procedure on April 16, 2025 — nine days after announcement (April 7). MECHANISM: prior government approval required for all foreign grants. Any foreign funding for activities deemed "political" requires government consent before receipt — Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) designated as oversight body (3-month review window). ACB can impose immediate asset freeze without court order — Social Justice Center: "mechanism strongly resembles criminal procedure code." Prior approval also required for: foreign organizations funding their local Georgian branches; foreign-registered entities active on Georgia-related issues; foreign actors hiring Georgian experts. Kobakhidze April 9: "The Government of Georgia will examine the purpose of every grant and issue approval accordingly. No one will be given the opportunity to artificially sow hatred or divide society using grants and NGOs." ISFED Director Levan Natroshvili: "Parliament adopted amendments that effectively banned not only the activities of organized civil society, but even the most basic forms of civic activism." USAID suspension context: USAID programs already suspended in Georgia — grants law further closes remaining funding channels. Adopted unanimously by 80 MPs. PENALTY DETAIL (GYLA December 2025 report): Double fine if grant accepted without government approval — fine equals twice the amount of the illegally received grant. No approval mechanism was in place at law's adoption — British Embassy grant cancellation (June 11 2025, GEO-015) documented as first concrete consequence: government decree "On procedure for approving grants" not ready, leaving no legal pathway to disburse approved funds. Source: GYLA Human Rights Situation in Georgia 2025 (December 10 2025); Georgia Today April 17 2025.
country
Georgia
date text
16/04/2025
entities
sources
  • citation
    Social Justice Center Georgia April 2025 (https://socialjustice.org.ge/en — primary); Civil.ge April 17 2025 (https://civil.ge/archives/676479); CSOMeter April 10 2025
tactics
narratives
campaign ids
campaign phase
Phase 5: Systemic Assault
campaigns served
channels
  • Official/Regulatory
civic response
ISFED, Social Justice Center, international partners condemn; EU/US condemn; EFJ/MFRR condemn; April 17 Civil.ge documents international reactions; organizations begin compliance review
consequence category
Legal/Administrative
created at
2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00
date precision
day
enabler status
Active — superseded March 2026 criminalization
enabler type
Financial Surveillance Capacity
escalation
5
harm track
Track 1 — Legal/Administrative
id
GEO-003
institutional consequence
Government veto power over all foreign civil society funding; ACB becomes primary financial surveillance mechanism; immediate asset freeze power without court order; virtually entire Georgian civil society funding rendered conditional
notes
STAGE 5 — SYSTEMIC ASSAULT. The ACB veto mechanism is analytically the most direct government control over civil society financing in the database. Social Justice Center documents that ACB asset freeze power has no equivalent safeguards found in Criminal Procedure Code — creates asymmetric enforcement without judicial review. "Political activity" definition intentionally vague — ordinary advocacy, research, journalism all potentially covered. USAID suspension (Feb 2025) as structural enabler: grants law closes the gap left by USAID withdrawal. Cross-ref GEO-004 (March 2026 criminalization).
occurred on
2025-04-16
signal ids
trigger type
TR-06: Legislative Milestone
updated at
2026-09-24T17:50:55.358311+00:00
version
1

Explore the connections

Associated reports

Associated signals

Associated responses

Read the complete JSON record