Georgia

Panel Discussion concludes Media Law Project

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Published: January 31, 2020
Moderator Prof. Sergi Jorbenadze (on the left) with judges Prof. Maia Kopaleishvili, Ketevan Meskhishvili, Nino Bakakuri, and Tamar Oniani during the panel discussion
Moderator Prof. Sergi Jorbenadze (on the left) with judges Prof. Maia Kopaleishvili, Ketevan Meskhishvili, Nino Bakakuri, and Tamar Oniani during the panel discussion

On 18 December 2019, a panel discussion was held to sum up the results of the wide-ranging media law project (see below) in Georgia. The project was financed by the German Federal Foreign Office to support the “Expanding Cooperation with Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia”.

The event began with a presentation of the main themes of the project to the audience of experts for discussion. Participating in the event were:

  • judges
  • legal experts
  • journalists and
  • representatives of non-governmental organisations.

The panel discussion was moderated by Prof. Sergi Jorbenadze and the panel was made up of four Georgian judges: Prof. Maia Kopaleishvili, a former judge at the Constitutional Court of Georgia, Ketevan Meskhishvili, a judge at the Court of Appeal, Nino Bakakuri, a judge at the Supreme Court, and Tamar Oniani, a judge at the Court of Appeal. They gave some impressive short lectures to share their knowledge and experience with the audience.

They covered the influence of disinformation and the difficulties in many cases to differentiate between disinformation and the right to freedom of speech. The conflict between freedom of expression and the protection of personal rights was also discussed. All the participants expressed the opinion that both issues required further, more in-depth discourse and discussion at national and international level. They explicitly expressed their support for a continuation of measures and exchange of experiences with German colleagues on subjects relating to media law.

Background of the project

Since the highly successful opening conference for the project, which was held on 2 November 2019 in Tbilisi, media representatives have taken part in four workshops on media law. These workshops were organised for media representatives by IRZ in cooperation with the Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani University. The media experts and media representatives addressed the following topics during the workshops:

  • social media
  • data protection
  • media and ethics
  • media and politics

Students following courses in law and journalism also took advantage of a four-day autumn academy on media law, during which German and Georgian experts presented an introduction to European and international media law. The following topics were discussed:

  • primary legislation relevant to the media
  • freedom of the media in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights
  • EU secondary legislation in the media sector
  • European Convention on Human Rights
  • competition and antitrust laws
  • copyright law
  • media criminal law
The speakers took the current case law of the European Court of Justice and of the European Court of Human Rights into account in their explanations.

Conference in Tbilisi on state liability law

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Published: November 29, 2019
Conference on state liability law. On the panel: Judge Mzia Todua (centre), acting President of the Supreme Court, Dr. Oliver Aldea (on her left), a judge from the Regional Court of Kassel, and Frank Hupfeld (right), Head of Section at the IRZ
Conference on state liability law. On the panel: Judge Mzia Todua (centre), acting President of the Supreme Court, Dr. Oliver Aldea (on her left), a judge from the Regional Court of Kassel, and Frank Hupfeld (right), Head of Section at the IRZ
Georgia

On 29 November 2019, a conference was held on state liability law at the Supreme Court in Tbilisi. As well as the acting President of the Supreme Court, Mzia Todua, and the Georgian expert Prof. Paata Turava from the Tbilisi State University, judges and scientific staff from the Supreme Court in Georgia also attended this event. The expert appointed by the IRZ was Dr. Oliver Aldea, a judge at the Regional Court of Kassel.

As a result of the protests against planned voting reforms, state liability law is once again the subject of debate in Georgia. Demands for the Georgian state to take responsibility for dealing with demonstrators have increased, for example. In this context, Dr. Aldea started by explaining the legal situation concerning state liability law in Germany.

In Germany – as in Georgia – there is a clear and comprehensive distinction between private and administrative law claims and this separation, for historical reasons, can be difficult for outsiders to understand. However, German and Georgian cases were used to provide a clear presentation of the legal situation in Germany and, with reference to the lecture given by Prof. Turava, as a model to explain Georgian legal issues. The situation in Georgia is not clear either and the laws set out in the civil code and administrative code are contradictory in places.

The discussions that took place during the conference, which became passionate in places, revealed that a change to the Georgian law on state liability is required and that the legislator needs to ensure that legal regulations are clear. The IRZ will therefore address the subject of state liability law again next year whenever it is possible.

New Challenges for Media Law – Start of the Media Law Project 2019

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Published: November 11, 2019
During the opening conference on media law in Tbilisi
During the opening conference on media law in Tbilisi

On 2 November 2019, IRZ and the Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani University organised the opening conference for a project on media law in Georgia. This project is part of the “Expanding Cooperation with Civil Society in the Eastern Partnership Countries and Russia” and is financed by the German Federal Foreign Office. The project is targeted at:

  • journalists,
  • lawyers,
  • corporate lawyers,
  • representatives of non-governmental organisations and
  • students following courses in law and journalism.

The conference was opened by Sophio Kiladze, Chairwoman of the Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights in Georgia, Anri Okhanashvili, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs in Georgia, and Jan Bittner, representing the German Embassy in Tbilisi.

The presentations given by Georgian and German experts covered a broad spectrum of media law topics:

  • “Standards of Freedom of Speech and the Role of the Regulatory Authorities in Georgia” by Ivane Macharadze, Head of Department for the regulation of audiovisual media services
  • “Media Regulation in the EU for a Digital Internal Market” by Dr. Jörg Ukrow, Deputy Director of the Saarland Media Authority and Managing Director of the Institute of European Media Law (EMR)
  • “Privacy rights and Freedom of Speech in Conflict” by Prof. Dr. Hannes Rösler, LL.M (Harvard), a professor in civil law, private international law and comparative law and Director of the Institute of Media and Communications Law (IMKR) at the University of Siegen
  • “Freedom of Speech in Social Media: The Current Reality in Georgia” by Ass. Prof. Dr. Sergi Jorbenadze (LL.M. Bremen), a professor in media law at the Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani University and at the Grigol Robakidze University in Tbilisi
  • “Combating Hate Speech on the Internet and the Responsibilities of Social Network Providers” by Amélie P. Heldt, a junior researcher at the Leibniz Institute for Media Research I Hans Bredow Institute (HBI)
  • “Media Problems in the Digital World” by Nata Dzvelishvili, Executive Director at the Georgian Charter of Journalistic Ethics
  • “Fake news and Disinformation as a Legal Issue” by Dr. Jörg Ukrow
  • “The Reporting of Criminal Offences and the Limitations on Freedom of Speech” by Ushangi Bakhtadze (MS.c, Oxford), Head of the Research Institute for Criminal Law at the Sulkhan Saba Orbeliani University.

The opening conference on “The new Challenges for Media Law” was the first event held as part of the project running until the end of 2019 in Georgia. During the project, media experts from Georgia and the European Union will discuss a selection of media law topics with participants in several workshops and an autumn academy for students.