Today, the European Court of Human Rights delivered its judgment in the case Matchavariani v. Georgia, finding a violation of Article 5 § 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Lekso Matchavariani was represented before the Court by Transparency International Georgia.

In 2020, Matchavariani was arrested during a protest and placed in administrative detention for 22 hours, after which he was fined 1,000 GEL. The Strasbourg Court found that the domestic courts should have assessed whether Matchavariani’s detention was lawful, necessary, and proportionate. The Court clarified that compliance with the formal 48-hour detention limit does not automatically render detention lawful. Even when administrative law provides for the possibility of detention and thus a formal legal basis exists, courts are still obligated to assess whether such detention was necessary and proportionate in light of the individual circumstances of each case.

Domestic courts in Georgia routinely refuse to assess the lawfulness of administrative detention, instead instructing individuals to challenge such detention through separate administrative proceedings. The Strasbourg Court found this approach to be unsubstantiated, marking a strategic aspect of the case.

The Court declared the complaints under Articles 10 and 11 (freedom of expression and assembly) inadmissible and also rejected the complaint under Article 6, which concerns the right to a fair trial.