“Like a black cat in a dark room”: Georgia’s opposition ban case enters sixth day of hearings
What happened at Georgia’s opposition ban hearing
On 28 October, Georgia’s Constitutional Court held the sixth day of hearings on a lawsuit filed by the ruling Georgian Dream party seeking to ban five opposition parties. The court is currently hearing submissions from the parties involved. On Tuesday, it heard arguments from representatives of the Coalition for Change.
The lawsuit names the United National Movement, Coalition for Change, Lelo – Strong Georgia, Gakharia for Georgia and the Federalists. Georgian Dream argues that these parties have violated Article 23 of the Constitution, which prohibits political parties whose aims include overthrowing or forcibly changing the country’s constitutional order. One of the arguments is that the parties refuse to recognise the legitimacy of the current authorities. The lawsuit also accuses them of organising attempts to overthrow the government.
The United National Movement faces additional accusations of undermining Georgia’s independence and violating its territorial integrity. The lawsuit holds the party responsible for the August 2008 war with Russia over South Ossetia, when it was in power.
All five opposition parties reject the accusations. Hearings are scheduled to continue through 30 October. The court must deliver its final ruling by 24 June 2027. A simple majority is required to uphold the claim, meaning at least four of the seven judges must vote in favour.
The Coalition for Change is represented in court by Nika Gvaramia, Tengo Tevzadze, Maia Kopaleishvili, Giga Lemonjava and Marika Arevadze. None of their motions was granted.
Constitutional Court President Revaz Nadaraia clashed twice with the coalition’s representatives, over their citation of a European Parliament resolution and their reference to the “Russian doctrine”.
The hearings will resume on 29 October at 11 a.m.
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Judge Nadaraia: “European Parliament resolution is irrelevant to this case”
Giga Lemonjava presented an 8 October 2026 European Parliament resolution at the hearing. The resolution compared the Georgian ruling party’s bid to ban opposition parties with the Russian and Belarusian models, describing it as part of a strategy to eliminate political pluralism and turn Georgia into a one-party state.
Constitutional Court President Revaz Nadaraia interrupted the presentation and asked how the resolution was relevant to the proceedings. Lemonjava replied that it was not directly relevant to the case but that the public should be informed about it.
Nika Gvaramia commented: “Public hearings mean that participants are speaking not only to the court but also to the public.”
Nadarაიa responded: “Public hearings mean that everyone can follow the proceedings, not that someone can make political statements here.” He also reprimanded Gvaramia, saying: “You are interrupting me and disrupting the proceedings.”
Judge Nadaraia says comparison with Russia’s new doctrine is irrelevant to court proceedings
Constitutional Court President Revaz Nadaraia raised a similar objection for a second time during Giga Lemonjava’s address.
The opposition representative drew attention to two claims in the lawsuit against the opposition: that the previous government, when the United National Movement was in power, artificially restored the borders of the former South Ossetian Autonomous Region in 2007 and started the war with Russia in 2008.
Lemonjava argued that these claims closely matched Russia’s new foreign policy and security doctrine. If the court accepted them, he said, a Georgian state institution would be giving legal legitimacy to Russia’s version of events for the first time. “You need to be aware of this danger,” he told the judges.
Lemonjava also argued that giving legal force to these claims would contradict Article 78 of Georgia’s Constitution, which obliges state institutions to take all measures to ensure the country’s full integration into the European Union and NATO.
Nadaraia did not allow Lemonjava to continue with this line of argument, describing his remarks as “demagoguery” and saying he had gone beyond the scope of the proceedings. The judge again told him not to interrupt.
Judge Gotsiridze: “Do not look for a black cat where there is none”
Maia Kopaleishvili, representing the Coalition for Change, and Constitutional Court judge Eva Gotsiridze previously served together on the court’s panel. At the hearing, they clashed over a section of the lawsuit concerning an alleged attempt to enter parliament.
Kopaleishvili questioned whether Gotsiridze had studied the ruling party’s lawsuit thoroughly enough. The judge called the remark inappropriate.
“Perhaps this issue simply needs clarification. Do not look for a black cat where there is none,” Gotsiridze replied.
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Opposition representative Kopaleishvili tells ruling party lawyers: “You were my students”
Maia Kopaleishvili addressed Archil Gorduladze and Tornike Cheishvili, who are representing the ruling party in court.
“You said opposition parties should be banned to protect future generations from a threat. You were my students. What threat do my colleagues and I pose to the country’s future?” Kopaleishvili asked.
Gvaramia warns of return to Soviet-style one-party elections
Nika Gvaramia noted that 28 October marked 36 years since Georgia held its first multiparty elections in 1990, as the Soviet Union was breaking apart.
“And now we are going back to where we started,” he said.
Gvaramia also described as a “distorted reality” the attempt to remove Lelo opposition party leader Badri Japaridze from politics, despite his being one of the signatories of Georgia’s 1991 Act of Restoration of State Independence.
Opposition assesses court hearing
Tornike Artkmeladze, a member of Lelo, said after the hearing that banning opposition parties in a single move would destroy what had been painstakingly built over the past 35 years.
“This is preparation for the first stage of clearing the political field — first of parties, and then they will move on to banning any active political activity. Georgian Dream wants to be the only force on the political scene. But they fail to understand that there are at least a million people in this country who will not give up their freedom,” Artkmeladze said.
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