A number of incidents that involved outspoken government critics in Mestia this spring and summer have stifled opposition voices in Svaneti during a period of intense government investments into the region’s tourism potential. Five months after oppos
An article published two days ago by Interpress News (access required) inaccurately reported that the Tbilisi City Council had secured assurance from the Ministry of Refugees and Accommodation (MRA) that IDPs living in five buildings in Tbilisi would
In late August we received a call from an IDP who claimed that the new settlements were no longer receiving electricity subsidies. After the government’s failure in fall 2009 to properly warn IDPs of cuts to their energy subsidies (resulting in many
The Georgian Chamber of Control (CoC) has stepped into the spotlight lately through several recent high-profile inquiries. This is an encouraging show of institutional strength, but it remains to be seen whether the recent positive trends in the agen
My post on jury trials generated some very useful discussion; I'd like to post some of the questions I received to clarify what I think about jury trials. I want to hear your thoughts, so please feel free to add comments to the blog, or to contact TI
Georgians are getting the right to be tried by a jury of their peers at the end of this week, on October 1. At this stage jury trials will be limited to aggravated murders, and Tbilisi. While greater involvement of the general public in practical gov
Update September 30th 2010: The operating procedures have been released; you can read them here.Tomorrow, the government will present a new set of procedures for evicting and resettling IDPs. The Standard Operating Procedures, to be presented at an o
The Georgian Parliament held the first reading of the Constitutional amendments on Friday 24 September. The reading was a surprise in that the Wednesday before, few even in Parliament seemed sure if and when it would happen. Today, although there is
TI Georgia has integrated "flattr" in its website. Flattr is not simply another social network where one can "like" another page. It is the first micropayment system that might actually work. And we are happy to adopt and promote this idea in the Sou
Last month on our blog, we investigated claims that residents of the new IDP cottage settlements had been unfairly and without warning required to pay high bills for gas and electricity. The issue still hasn’t been properly resolved, but on March 26