The report aims to provide with an overview of basic tendencies concerning the state policy, legislative framework and criminal law practices on drug-related crimes. Through this report, the EMC continues documenting the systemic challenges in the field of drug-related policy in order to provide with comparative analysis of practices and circumstances of previous years as well as to contribute to fundamental changes in drug-related policy.

During the last years, no substantial legislative amendments have been made in the field of drug–related policy. Thus, the report draws attention to challenges and to situation existing in law enforcement and justice system. The report makes an overview of the particular legal novelties that were largely determined by the decisions of the Constitutional Court of Georgia.

Taking into consideration certain efforts of non-systemic nature of the government to liberalize the drug-related policy, it is well-known that drug-related crimes remain the significant challenge in the field of human rights and justice system. The government appeared unable to make a decision on substantial changes despite the large-scale protest, performed work and requests that have been lasting for many years now. Moreover, since spring 2018, the government practically refused to discuss the reform on drug-related policy within the framework of different types of working groups. The draft law was cut from the legislative schedule.

This happens under the circumstances when legislative framework on drug-related crimes, the practices of investigatory bodies and effective judicial control leaves the risks and possibilities to use drug-related policy in an arbitrary, unfair and disproportionate manner and to apply inhuman punishments.

During the last six months of 2018 year, over 50 persons detained in penitentiary establishments launched hunger strikes for the judicial decisions on drug-related crimes or unfairness of sanctions applied against them.1 In 2018, suspended sentence is used against 4697 persons2 and only in the same period of time, approximately 3000 persons have been convicted for drug-related crimes.

In this report, under the given circumstances of the canceled reform, the EMC assesses once again legal environment, updated statistical data with regard to drug-related policy as well as peculiarities of law enforcement bodies and judiciary with regard to particular criminal law cases and based on a study of existing practices in the field of drug-related policy.

We hope that, the assessments and tendencies invoked in this report will encourage the renewal of drug-related policy reform process and will assist all the interested parties in forming fair, humane and care-oriented drug-related policy.

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