Over 800 civil servants dismissed in Georgia
Dismissals of civil servants in Georgia
According to the Independent Trade Union of Civil Servants – Article 78 of the Constitution, more than 800 people have been dismissed from Georgia’s civil service in recent months.
The dismissals are based on amendments to the Law on Civil Service, which came into force on 1 February 2025. These amendments granted state agency heads unprecedented powers to unilaterally dismiss employees.
“Dismissals in the civil service continue. Over 200 employees have already been dismissed from a single organisation — the National Agency of Public Registry — while the total number of those laid off across the state sector exceeds 800,” the trade union claims.
It reports that on 16 April, the Ministry of Education announced yet another reorganisation, which could also affect legal entities under public law within the education system, including educational institutions.
In response, the union is planning a protest march on 1 May:
In light of recent developments, ten independent trade unions and other civil society groups operating in Georgia plan to hold a May Day march in protest against the dismissal of civil servants and, more broadly, what they describe as an unjust social policy in the country.
Earlier, the organisation Transparency International Georgia (TI) published a report stating that one of the ruling Georgian Dream party’s main strategies to suppress the protest movement in the country is to bring the civil service under full political control.
According to TI, since December 2024, Georgian Dream has amended the Law on Civil Service four times, significantly weakening the legal protections of civil servants and effectively dismantling a civil service reform that had been implemented over several years with the support of international organisations and was a key requirement for the country’s integration into European structures.
Dismissals of civil servants in Georgia
