The Constitutional Court has upheld Transparency International Georgia’s constitutional appeal in the case of Mathias Huter vs. Georgian Parliament. The Constitutional Court ruled the Georgian Parliament’s moratorium (temporary ban) on the acquisition of agricultural land by foreign citizens until 31 December 2014 to be unconstitutional as it contradicted Article 21 of the Georgian Constitution whereby the right of property and inheritance is recognized and inalienable and it is also prohibited to abolish the universal right of holding, acquiring, selling or inheriting property.

Transparency International Georgia welcomes the Georgian Constitutional Court’s decision. The moratorium created a different legal regime for foreigners and discriminated against them [1]. This restriction also created problems for foreign investors [2] who have an important role to play in the country’s economic development.

The provisions that prohibited the acquisition of agricultural land by foreigners are void from the moment of announcement of the Constitutional Court’s decision.