A Political Party as a Legal Institution
A political party is a voluntary, independent association of citizens formed on a common ideological and organizational basis, registered as established by law and operating within the Constitution. A party is a non-profit legal entity; Civil Code provisions apply to it unless they contradict this law. The law defines the party’s creation and activity, the legality and transparency of its finances, and liability for violations, and extends to persons with a declared party-political aim using material resources.
Founding and Registration with the National Agency of Public Registry
To create a party, a group of at least 300 citizens holds a founding congress without prior permission; a notary attends and certifies the minutes. Within one week the National Agency of Public Registry receives the application, the notarized minutes, the charter and other documents, and decides within one month. The certificate is issued within 7 days of the decision; a refusal is notified with reasons within the same 7 days and may be appealed to court within one month; after the ground is removed, documents may be resubmitted. If no registration and no refusal notice followed, the party is deemed registered. By its 2022 decision the Constitutional Court declared invalid the requirement of a list of at least 1000 members.
Sources of Financing and Restrictions
The property of a party consists of membership fees, donations and, in cases defined by law, state funds. Donations may not be accepted from a person without Georgian citizenship, from a legal entity, from a public institution, or anonymously; Also prohibited are donations from a person subject to a decision of the Constitutional Court under the law on that Court and from a constituent subject of another state’s system of state power. Information on donations is public: the State Audit Office publishes it monthly on its website; a benefit or service received on preferential terms also counts as a donation, while voluntary services do not. Donations from one citizen during a year must not exceed 60 000 GEL in total, and each member’s annual membership fee — 1 200 GEL. Donations and fees are accepted only cashless, from the donor’s own account at a licensed commercial bank in Georgia. A party may borrow only from a Georgian commercial bank, up to one million GEL per calendar year. Accepting foreign funds triggers criminal liability of the party leader.
A party that received at least 1% of the valid votes in the last parliamentary elections receives budget funds: within the first 50 000 votes each vote is valued at 15 GEL per year, each subsequent vote at 5 GEL. Within 1 month a party may refuse the funding by written application to the Central Election Commission. The funding is lost if half or more of the MPs elected on its ticket prematurely lose their mandate; where more than half of its MPs without valid reason miss more than half of the plenary sittings, no funding is received for the following 6 calendar months.
The Annual Financial Declaration and the State Audit Office
By 1 February each year a party submits to the State Audit Office a financial declaration with an auditor’s conclusion; election spending is shown separately and published within 5 working days. The declaration and related documents are kept for 6 years; with a turnover of up to 10 000 GEL no conclusion is required. Where the declaration is late, the Office warns the party in writing and demands the defect be cured within 5 days; otherwise state funding is lost for 1 year. An audit runs at most once a year, an extraordinary one requires a court application, and a court decides information requests within 48 hours. In monitoring, the Office may question a person and interview one before a magistrate judge; administrative proceedings last at most 3 months, extendable by up to 3 months by the Auditor General.
Prohibition, Reorganization and Self-Liquidation
A party may be prohibited only by decision of the Constitutional Court of Georgia: for aiming at violent change of the constitutional order, violation of the country’s independence or territorial integrity, propaganda of war or violence, incitement of national or religious strife, or creating an armed formation. Activity may also cease through reorganization — merger, incorporation or division — or self-liquidation by congress decision. These rules do not govern the electoral campaign fund and budget, which are regulated by the Electoral Code, outside this corpus.
Frequently Asked Questions
Below are the questions we are asked most often about the law of political associations, answered from the norms of the Organic Law.
How many members are needed to found a party?
A founding congress may be held by a group of at least 300 citizens without prior permission, and the congress is attended by a notary.
How large may one donor’s annual donation be?
Donations received from one citizen for one party during a year must not exceed 60 000 GEL, and a member’s annual membership fee must not exceed 1 200 GEL.
When is state funding lost?
Where a financial declaration is not submitted on time and the defect is not cured within 5 days after the warning, the party loses the right to state funding for the following 1 year.
Who may prohibit a party?
Only the Constitutional Court of Georgia, in the cases defined by law and under the established procedure.
How We Help on Legal.ge
On Legal.ge we assist parties with registration, financing compliance and declarations, and help donors understand the restrictions. Contact our team on any issue of political associations law.