Home > 2.3.1 National observers > GEORGIA - Joint Opinion on the Election Code
 
 
 
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Paragraph 124
 

Complainants are not permitted to provide witness testimony in civil and administrative proceedings, according to general court interpretation of the Georgian Civil Procedures Code. Thus, accredited observers and party proxies who file complaints on incidents they witness are not allowed to provide supporting testimony in the case. Since observer organisations and political entities are not entitled to file complaints related to election day (only individual observers and proxies), as set out in Article 77, prima 1, par. 18, it is very difficult to prove witness-based cases if the complainant is not authorised to testify, especially if other witnesses abstain from testifying due to intimidation (as occurred in the 2008 parliamentary elections). Thus, it is recommended that the Election Code expressly provide that accredited domestic observers and party proxies can serve as witnesses in complaints filed by voters and other persons involved in the electoral process or in the alternative, it should allow an individual accredited domestic observer or party proxy to file a complaint on election day on behalf of the relevant domestic observer organisation or political party, thus allowing the domestic observer/proxy to provide witness testimony in support of the complaint.