Strasbourg Court's Decision: Violation of Convention on Rustavi 2's Case not Established and Suspension Mechanism Lifted

The European Court of Human Rights has announced the decision into the case of Rustavi 2 TV company.

As noted in the court decision, the ECHR unanimously decided to suspend Article 39 of the Rules of Court, on the basis of which the enforcement of the decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia regarding the Rustavi 2 TV company had been suspended.

The European Court of Human Rights also ruled that there was no violation of the first paragraph of 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights with regard to the independence and bias of the judge of the Tbilisi City Court, the judge of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal and the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.

The parties have a three-month deadline to appeal to the decision of Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg Court. If the decision is not appealed within the timeframe, it will enter into force after three months.

Businessman Kibar Khalvashi started a legal dispute over Rustavi 2  in 2015. According to the decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Kibar Khalvashi and Company Panorama were announced as owners of TV Company. On 3 March, the European Court of Human Rights suspended enforcement of the decision made on March 2 by Grand Chamber of Supreme Court of Georgia into the case of Rustavi 2 TV Company.