Verdict: GeoFacts concludes that Teona Akubardia’s statement is TRUE.
Teona Akubardia, an opposition MP, discussed the latest amendments to the Russian-style law during her visit to Palitranews, stating: “Not only organisations, but also physical entities will be required to submit their personal data to Rati Bregadze’s office. If this institution, responding to high public demand, decides that all information should be made public, then personal data will also be openly accessible.”
GeoFacts evaluated Teona Akubardia’s statement.
The initial version of the draft Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence directly targeted any non-governmental organisation or media outlet receiving more than 20% of their funds from abroad. The legislation introduced a set of onerous requirements created to fully control and obstruct the work of these entities. Therefore, most of the requirements within the draft law and the sanctions for non-compliance specifically targeted the NGO and media sectors.
Despite the above, the repressive mechanisms of the draft law will now apply to physical entities. For instance, the Ministry of Justice will have unlimited power to store the personal data of individuals employed by organisations and beneficiaries associated with them under the monitoring mechanism of the draft law [1]. This essentially implies that the state practically disregards its own obligation to choose a commensurate, necessary and proportionate way to infringe upon this right [2]. Furthermore, the draft law poses an existential threat to nearly all Georgia NGOs under the guise of a “benign aim” of transparency, including those providing services to people with developmental disabilities, various vulnerable groups, individuals in need of a free legal aid, etc. Thus, the draft law already applies to individuals both indirectly and directly.
A set of key conceptual amendments was made to the initially presented version of the draft law during the second parliamentary hearing, further clarifying the threats that individuals will have to face. Two of these alterations are particularly noteworthy.
One of the changes was relevant for the fourth, sixth, seventh and eighth articles of the draft law. This amendment empowered individuals authorised by the Ministry of Justice to request information, including from private individuals, who are then required to immediately provide the requested data.
The particular change made to the aforementioned articles are as follows: the first statement of the Paragraph 4 of Article 4, which previously read – “An Agency is required to examine and learn the statement within 30 working days after the submission of the statement to the Agency, for which a person authorised by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia shall have the right to obtain the necessary information in compliance with law, including personal data” was adjusted and changed to: “A person authorised by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia shall, within 30 working days after the submission of the statement to the Agency, examine and inquire into the statement. For this purpose, the said person shall have the right to obtain the necessary information in compliance with law, including the data provided for by Article 3(b) of the Law of Georgia on Personal Data Protection, other personal data and information containing a secret (except for a state secret as provided for by the legislation of Georgia). All persons, bodies, organisations, and institutions, which are requested by a person authorised by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia to submit such information, shall immediately provide him/her with such information that is available to them.”
Analogous changes were made in the Paragraph 1 of Article 4, Paragraph 1 of Article 7 and the Paragraph 3 of Article 8.
Additionally, Article 9 was also altered during the second parliamentary hearing to include the following provision: “Failure to provide a person authorised by the Ministry of Justice of Georgia with the information requested by him/her in accordance with this Law – shall be subject to a fine of GEL 5,000.” Hence, the aforementioned addition gives the Ministry of Justice the authority to fine any physical entity, including employees of NGOs and media platforms, who do not comply with the request for information made by an authorised person.
Considering all of the above, the draft law includes certain mechanisms to control and infringe upon the rights of individuals both indirectly and directly. Following the second parliamentary hearing, the state now obliges any individual, including NGO and media employees, to provide the ‘necessary information’ with financial sanctions applied for non-compliance. Thus, GeoFacts concludes that Teona Akubardia’s claim regarding the responsibility of physical entities to provide their personal data to the Ministry of Justice is TRUE.
[1] Refer to Paragraph 4 of Article 4. [2] Citizen of Georgia Tristan Mamagulashvili versus the Parliament of Georgia, N1/3/534, 11 June 2013
