In defiance of some legislative changes recently adopted by the ruling Georgian Dream party, a local judge in southern Georgia has suspended several administrative cases and sent them to the Constitutional Court to be reviewed.
Vladimer Khuchua, who has served at the Tetritskaro District Court since 2012, has requested that two separate legislations be declared incompatible with the constitution. Both were adopted in 2025 by the Georgian Dream-controlled parliament amidst a broader wave of restrictive laws introduced in parallel with the anti-government protests.
According to RFE/RL, the first disputed amendment concerned the mandatory imposition of administrative arrest if a person commits a repeat offence and has not paid the fine for the first violation. The second mandates the revocation of a person’s driver’s license and other rights for three or five years for the illegal possession of small amounts of cannabis or marijuana.
As Khuchua told the outlet, he believes the amendments in question threaten constitutionally protected rights, including human dignity, equality, and personal liberty.
Commenting on the legislative changes related to marijuana and cannabis, Khuchua told RFE/RL:
‘A person who supports their family by driving — for example, a taxi driver — would be left without a livelihood. I believe this is also an unjust punishment: judges are left with no room to determine the penalty individually; the law explicitly mandates three years [of the license revocation]’.
According to RFE/RL, Khuchua has suspended four cases in total that were based on the legislative amendments he is challenging. The cases did not involve participants of the anti-government protests, but Khuchua noted that the outcome of the dispute could affect those penalised during the demonstrations.
Khuchua also drew attention in November 2024, after the disputed parliamentary elections, when he confirmed a breach of ballot secrecy during the voting process and annulled the results in two districts. His decision was later overturned by the Court of Appeal.
Because of his election-related ruling, Khuchua was criticised by representatives of the ruling party and their allies. At the time, Georgian Dream propagandist and conspiracy theorist, Zaza Shatirishvili, called him ‘a member of the deep-state clan’.
OC Media
