April 29, 2013 saw the first hearing of Transparency International Georgia (TI Georgia)’s case against the Ministry of Finance at Tbilisi City Court.

The cause of dispute was Order #30 [1] issued in January 25, 2013 by the Minister of Finance, which contained serious damages to the rights of carriers (see our blogpost [2]). TI Georgia considers that the order is not in compliance with the law. Accordingly, our organization is trying to defend the legal interests of the carriers in court.

The representatives of the Ministry filed a motion requesting a 2 week adjournment of the hearing.  This, according to them, was so that the working groups operating within the Ministry could carry out some amendments to the order. They claimed that with these amendments in place, there will no longer be a need to continue the dispute. The judge rejected the motion, but after the first stage of the hearing the trial was postponed until May 14.

TI Georgia continues to defend the rights of victims and will publish all information regarding the dispute. Furthermore, we would like to express our readiness to assist the working group of the Ministry of Finance in implementing such changes that will promote the legal interests and rights of the disputing parties.