In an important vote for new members of a top judicial body, five opposition politicians joined forces with Georgia’s ruling party, Georgian Dream, to elect pro-government candidates. Just two days later, companies linked to one of these politicians received favorable rulings in long-running land disputes.

Pro-government lawmakers in Georgia have drafted a bill that would introduce new requirements for organizations that receive funding from abroad, with many experts worried that, if passed, the law could be used to restrict the freedoms of independent media and NGOs.

Georgia’s General Prosecutor’s Office has questioned the veracity of tapes which appear to show Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Bera Ivanishvili, the son of the ruling “Georgian Dream” party’s founder and former prime minister Bidzina Ivanishvili, plotting revenge on a local school boy who had posted negative comments on Bera’s facebook page. 

In the twenty years since the small, post-Soviet nation of Georgia joined the Council of Europe, and thirty years since Soviet troops violently suppressed civilian protests there, the country has made significant progress towards democracy, but continues to require improvement in areas such as constitutional reforms, human rights and respect of the rule of law.