Around 700 civil servants sacked in Georgia for political reasons — Transparency International

700 Georgian civil servants sacked

According to a report by Transparency International Georgia (TI), political repression against civil servants has become a key tactic in Georgian Dream’s effort to suppress the protest movement in the country. TI claims that politically motivated dismissals have affected around 700 employees across dozens of state institutions.

Since December 2024, Georgian Dream has introduced four rounds of repressive amendments to the Law on Civil Service, the organization notes. These changes have significantly weakened the legal protections of public servants and effectively dismantled civil service reforms that had been implemented over several years with support from international organizations — and were a key condition for Georgia’s integration into European structures.

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Transparency International’s report:

● Repressions affected around 700 employees across dozens of state institutions.

Since December 2024, according to incomplete information, about 700 public servants have been dismissed from various agencies on political grounds. The largest number of employees were dismissed from the following structures: the Ministry of Defense, Tbilisi City Hall and its subordinate LEPLs the National Agency of Public Registry, the Justice House, the National Probation Agency, the Central Election Commission, the Sighnaghi, Lagodekhi, and Adigeni municipalities, the Ministry of Finance and Economy of Ajara, the Department of Tourism and Resorts of Ajara, the High Council of Justice of Georgia, the Government Administration, the Personal Data Protection Service. Two institutions have been closed: the Parliamentary Research Center and the Civil Service Bureau.

In these agencies, mainly due to reorganization, expiration of contracts, or other formal reasons, employees who signed protest statements against the suspension of European integration or openly expressed their critical position towards government policies were dismissed or removed from their positions.

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● Amendments to the Law on Civil Service have removed key legal protections for public servants.

• No legal justification is required for the dismissal of middle-level managers, and they will be given three-day advance notice of dismissal;
• The rule of appointment to important positions without competition has been restored;
• The reorganization rule has been simplified and even if a person is illegally dismissed due to reorganization, only one month of missed salary will be paid;
• Persons in the diplomatic service will no longer be considered public servants appointed for life and will be fired after the dismissal of a minister.

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● Repressive legal changes target creative and academic spaces

The legislative change deprives the artistic teams of professional theaters of the opportunity to participate in the selection of the theater director, and directors will be appointed and dismissed by the minister or mayor at their discretion.

Public servants will be able to engage in scientific, pedagogical, and artistic activities only with the written consent of the head of the relevant institution.

700 Georgian civil servants sacked