Finance of Political Parties – Legislative proposal Tbilisi, 2 March, 2012

Gaps in acting legislation : Restrictions on constitutional rights and freedoms ; Ambiguous norms and non-existence of procedural guaranties ; Possibility of broad interpretation of norms and unlimited competence of the Chamber of Control ; Unreasonable restrictions and sanctions ; Grave and unjustified liability on voters ;

Legislative proposal ensures : Protection of constitutional rights; Clear and unambiguous formulation that restricts discretion of the Chamber of Control; Due procedure to make decision; Filling of gaps concerning donation of parties; Adequate sanctions for violations.

“ Associated person” Financial restrictions provided for parties will be applied to: a ) A person, who has declared his/her electoral goals and bears expenses for these goals, except for the donations made within the limits established by the law ; b ) A person, who throughout the year contributes not legal donations worth total of 200,000 GEL.

The Procedure for Applying of Limitations Participation of the person in the decision making process is guaranteed; A Person is entitled to appeal the decision of the Chamber of Control of Georgia; CCG is authorized to request financial documents on the bases of the reasonable doubt; The limitations shall be in effect until the end of elections; CCG can change the decision upon request or its own judgment.

Donation Any monetary means provided and/or any material value or service provided free of charge or at discount/preferential terms to support a party or a person or not to do so shall be considered as a donation.

Procedure for Seizure the Property The Seizure may be applied only to the extent necessary and if there is a danger of disposal/spending of the property by a person ; The decision to seizure the property is made by the court; The judge shall decide the case within 24 hours; The court decision shall be subject to appellate challenge only in appellate court within 48 hours. The Appellate Court shall make a decision within 48 hours which is final and is not subject to further appeal.

Sanctions and limitations: Joint limit established for natural persons will be abolished if the income comes from the single source; Joint limit on income for the party during the year will be abolished Limitation on Independent Single-seat Candidate Expenditure will be set;

Sanctions are becoming more proportionate : The fine of 10 fold amount is reduced to triple amount of the received financial or material contributions ; Property received or issued by the void deal shall no more be transferred to the state budget.

Bribing of Voters Voters shall not be subject to liability ; The purpose in narrowed - „ for voting for or for refraining from voting for any political entity in elections “ ; The monetary limit is defined : Bribing of voters over 100 GEL shall be punishable; Bribing of voters within the limits of 100 GEL cause the administrative liability; The liability for bribing of voters is diminished for 1 year; A Political party shall be punished only with fine.

Thank You for Attention!