Georgia toughens defamation laws, aligns with European standards

Georgia is moving to strengthen its defamation laws, with proposed amendments to the Law on Freedom of Speech and Expression that will shift the burden of proof from the defamed individual to the alleged defamer.

In his remarks over the matter, David Matikashvili, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party and Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Committee on Procedural Issues and Rules, on Tuesday said that the new system aligned with European approaches to combating defamation.

“This is a well-structured system - a European approach to a very serious issue: defamation. Any defamatory statement made against either a private or public person will now serve as grounds for initiating a civil lawsuit. The burden will fall on the person who made the statement to prove that it was true, not false”, Matikashvili said.

According to the legislative amendments, the definition of defamation is being clarified to mean a substantially false statement that damages a person's reputation. The draft law also maintains separate provisions regulating defamation concerning private and public individuals but refines the legal terminology and redistributes the burden of proof.

Previously, individuals claiming to be defamed had to prove that the statement was untrue. Under the proposed amendments - aligned with European legal standards - the responsibility to provide evidence shifts to the individual who disseminated the allegedly defamatory information.