Today, at the plenary session, Parliament will consider article by article in the second reading and put to a vote the package of legislative amendments, the entry into force of which will introduce new restrictions and prohibitions related to grants, political activity, and political activism.

The legislative package was revised during consideration in the Legal Issues Committee and further tightened in several directions. The introduction of new norms of criminal liability is planned.

Amendments planned to the Law “On Grants” expand the concept of “grant.” In addition, as stated at the Legal Issues Committee session, in the part of the bill that defines what is considered a grant, it will be recorded that the restrictions do not apply to funds transferred by emigrants.

According to the bill, a grant is considered to be funds transferred in monetary or in-kind form by a subject provided for in the relevant article of the law, which are used or may be used with the belief or intention of influencing the Georgian government, state institutions, or any part of society in activities carried out or to be carried out aimed at forming, implementing, or changing Georgia’s domestic or foreign policy, as well as activities that stem from the political or public interests of a foreign government or foreign political party.

A legal entity of another state whose activities substantially involve matters related to Georgia is also considered a grant recipient. Foreign-registered legal entities will be obliged to obtain prior consent from the Government of Georgia before receiving a grant. If a legal entity of another state that has a registered branch, representation, or division in Georgia receives a grant without consent, this will entail liability.

According to the bill, persons who have already received a grant before the law enters into force will have a 1-month period after the law’s entry into force to apply to the Government of Georgia. In turn, the Government will also have a 1-month period to respond – to give consent or refuse.

Within the framework of the second reading, the draft amendment to the Criminal Code has also been changed. A provision has been added to the bill according to which committing a crime motivated by non-recognition of the constitutional order or constitutional bodies will be an aggravating circumstance when imposing a sentence. As explained by the Chairman of the Legal Issues Committee, Archil Gorduladze, when imposing imprisonment in such cases, the term of the sentence to be served must be at least 1 year longer than the minimum term of punishment provided for the committed crime under the relevant part of the Code.

Another novelty is that a new Article 316¹ will be added to the Criminal Code titled: “Extremism against the Constitutional Order.”

This article provides for criminal liability in the following case: Systematic and public calls by a citizen of Georgia or a person without Georgian citizenship status for mass violation of legislation, mass disobedience to state authorities of Georgia, or creation of alternative bodies; as well as systematic public self-presentation or presentation of another person as a representative of the Georgian government without authorization, or other systematic actions by this person aimed at establishing the perception of the illegitimacy of Georgia’s constitutional order or constitutional bodies and harming Georgia’s interests or creating a real threat of harming Georgia’s interests.

Such an act will result in a fine, community service from 400 to 600 hours, or imprisonment for up to 3 years. In the case of a legal entity, the legal entity will be punished by a fine or liquidation along with a fine.

Another change reflected in the bill during the second reading is that a business legal entity fined for the first time for political activity will face criminal liability in case of repetition of political activity. Criminal liability will be imposed both on the legal entity and on the “respective natural person responsible for the violation.”

In addition, any administrative offense committed motivated by non-recognition of the constitutional order or constitutional bodies will be an aggravating circumstance for administrative liability.

The legislative package was prepared by the “Georgian Dream” faction. The amendments are being made to the following laws: Law “On Grants, Criminal Code, Administrative Procedure Code, Code of Administrative Offences, Organic Law “On Political Associations of Citizens,” Law “On the State Audit Office.”