The abstract of the judgment (The judgment is available only in Georgian). Abstracts published by the Constitutional Court of Georgia summarise the facts of the case and key legal considerations of the judgment.

Abstract

On 14 February, 2017, the Constitutional Court of Georgia adopted the Judgement and upheld the constitutional complaint (registration number №638) of the citizen of Georgia Levan Alapishvili.

The Constitutional Court found the regulation provided in the Administrative Procedure Code of Georgia contradicted the right to fair trial (Article 42(1) of the Constitution) and right of defense (Article 42(3) of the Constitution). Under the disputed regulation, in the process of consideration of motion of the tax authority on reception of the confidential information on the basis of international treaty, the judge has no opportunity to study the individual circumstances and decide on whether the persons, whose confidential information is sought by the tax authority should participate in consideration of the motion. Moreover, that normative content of the disputed rule was also found unconstitutional, which did not provide for obligation of notification of a person about the proceedings, in case s/he was excluded from the proceedings, after the risks associated with notification were eliminated.

The Constitutional Court also reviewed the rule of appeal against the decision on the above-mentioned motion and upheld the claim of the complainant in this part, as well. More specifically that normative content of the disputed provision was found unconstitutional, which excluded the possibility of a person, whose confidential information was sought by the tax authority based on the international agreement of Georgia, to file an appeal for reversal of the order of the judge.