Domestic and international observers

1. Domestic and international observer organisations shall have the right to observe elections provided they meet the terms and conditions defined in this Law and have been registered with the CEC or the relevant DEC.

2. A domestic observer organisation may be a local non-entrepreneurial (non-commercial) legal entity registered according to the legislation of Georgia not later than one year prior to the polling day, the Statute or another constituent document of which provides for, at the time of registration, monitoring elections and/or protecting human rights. A domestic observer organisation shall be registered with the CEC or the respective DEC for the purpose of observing elections.

3. A domestic observer organisation shall observe elections through its representative, domestic observer. An organisation is authorised to have not more than 1 observer at each electoral precinct at any one time.

4. Domestic observers of a domestic observer organisation may be any citizen of Georgia above the age of 18, except for:

a) public/political officials defined by the Law of Georgia on Public Service;

b) (Deleted – 22.6.2016, No 5438);

c) members of a local self-government representative body Sakrebulo;

d) heads and deputy heads of the local self-government executive body;

e) judges;

f) staff of the Ministries of Internal Affairs and Defence of Georgia, the state sub-agency institution within the system of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia – Special Penitentiary Service, the State Security Service of Georgia and the Georgian Intelligence Service, and of the Special State Protection Service of Georgia;

g) officials of the Prosecutor’s Office;

h) electoral subjects and their representatives;

I) members of an election commission.

5. An international observer organisation may be a representative of another country, an organisation registered in another country or an international organisation, a constituent document/Statute of which provides for monitoring of the elections and/or protection of human rights and the activity of which is based on the following internationally recognised principles:

a) respect for the legislation, sovereignty of Georgia and international human rights norms;

b) abstaining from interfering with the election process;

c) political impartiality;

d) financial independence from the participants of the election process and transparency of funding sources;

e) implementation of the provisions recognized by the Declaration of Principles for International Election Observation.

6. An international observer organisation shall be registered with the CEC in order to monitor elections. In addition, the CEC shall be authorised to request additional information when registering an organisation in order to determine the compliance of the organisation’s activity with the principles referred to in the fifth paragraph of this article. An international observer organisation shall observe elections through its representatives – international observers. One organisation may have not more than 2 international observers at the same time at each electoral precinct.

7. International observers defined in paragraph 6 of this article may be accompanied by an interpreter who shall be registered with the CEC together with international observers.

Organic Law of Georgia No 6571 of 28 June 2012 – website, 28.6.2012
Organic Law of Georgia No 1788 of 13 December 2013 – website, 28.12.2013
Organic Law of Georgia No 3973 of 8 July 2015 – website, 15.7.2015
Organic Law of Georgia No 5438 of 22 June 2016 – website, 12.7.2016
Organic Law of Georgia No 1274 of 26 July 2017 – website, 29.7.2017
Organic Law of Georgia No 3127 of 5 July 2018 – website, 11.7.2018