Georgian Dream Moves to Tighten Rules on Public Assemblies
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, December 9, 2025
The Georgian Dream party has introduced a new set of amendments that would significantly tighten regulations governing public assemblies and demonstrations. Parliament is expected to consider the proposal under an expedited procedure, prompting renewed concerns from opposition groups and civil society about increasing restrictions on the right to protest.
The legislative package, submitted at Monday's session of the Parliamentary Bureau, proposes changes to the Law on Assemblies and Demonstrations as well as the Code of Administrative Offenses. Under the draft, organizers would be required to notify state authorities if a demonstration is planned in an area commonly used by large numbers of people. Officials would also gain expanded authority to intervene if they determine that a gathering threatens public safety, law and order, the functioning of institutions or transportation, or the free movement of citizens.
According to the proposal, state bodies would be empowered to instruct demonstrators to relocate, reschedule or modify the form of their protest if authorities believe these risks are present. Participants who do not comply with such instructions would face administrative liability. Supporters of the bill argue that the changes are necessary to prevent disruptions and safeguard public order.
Opponents, however, say the amendments represent another step toward limiting freedom of assembly in a political climate already marked by tension between the government and its critics.
Georgia's 5th President Salome Zourabichvili sharply condemned the proposed law. Writing on X, she said the amendments would impose new barriers on citizens' ability to gather in central urban areas. "A new law just introduced restricts even more the right to demonstrate. All protests will need prior authorization if planned in public crowded places, which means all central locations in Tbilisi. The main target is the one yearlong protest on Rustaveli," she wrote.
