Today, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) announced its judgment in the case of Matchavariani v. Georgia, finding a violation of Article 5, paragraph 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights – according to a statement released by Transparency International – Georgia.

As the statement notes, the Strasbourg Court ruled that the domestic courts should have examined whether Lexo Matchavariani’s arrest was lawful, necessary, and proportionate.

“Lexo Matchavariani was detained during a protest in 2020 and held in administrative detention for 22 hours. He was ultimately fined 1,000 GEL. The Strasbourg Court held that the national courts should have assessed whether his detention was legal, necessary, and proportionate. According to the Court, merely complying with the 48-hour formal detention limit does not automatically make the detention lawful. Even when administrative offenses allow for detention and there is a formal legal basis, this does not exempt courts from the obligation to evaluate whether such detention was necessary and proportionate, taking into account the individual circumstances of each applicant.”

Domestic courts in Georgia consistently refuse to assess the legality of detention in administrative proceedings, instead instructing individuals to file a separate civil lawsuit. The Strasbourg Court found this approach to be essentially unjustified, which is considered a strategic element in this case.

The ECHR declared inadmissible the complaints under Articles 10 and 11 of the Convention, which pertain to freedom of expression and assembly, and also rejected the complaint under Article 6, which concerns the right to a fair trial.