The Constitutional Court of Georgia has refused to postpone the hearing of a case concerning the potential banning of opposition parties

The Constitutional Court of Georgia rejected a request by former Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia’s party, "For Georgia," to delay the proceedings regarding a petition to ban five opposition parties. The case will resume in three days, despite objections from the opposition, who had requested more time to prepare their defense.

Gakharia’s party argued that, following the inclusion of the ruling "Georgian Dream" party in the case, they were not granted the one-month period for preparing written objections—a timeframe stipulated by the court’s regulations. While representatives from other opposition groups supported the request for a postponement, the plenum of the Constitutional Court unanimously denied it.

The preparatory phase concluded after three days of hearings. During this time, the opposition parties filed 12 motions, none of which were granted by the court.

The hearing on the merits of the case is scheduled for Monday, October 26, at 2:00 PM. On that same day, the court will issue a ruling on a motion by the "For Georgia" party to summon several politicians as witnesses—including "Georgian Dream" founder Bidzina Ivanishvili and other current or former party leaders. The party seeks to have them questioned regarding the events in the village of Chorchana and the dispersal of protests on June 20, 2019—matters linked to the criminal prosecution of the party’s leader, Giorgi Gakharia. Representatives of the party maintain that these accusations are politically motivated.

"We will get to work next week. These past three days have shown that there is a significant amount of work ahead. If we do not finish next week, we will continue the following week," stated Revaz Nadaraia, who presided over the session. He also ordered the parties to appear for the hearings, which are scheduled to take place over several consecutive days.

"I don’t know if we’ll be able to finish within that week or not. If we don’t, let’s take a week off afterward. Hearings will be set for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. I’m not asking the parties for their input—everyone is required to appear!" Nadaraya emphasized.

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