Homelessness is a global challenge, but the scope of the problem varies by country.1 Homelessness is one of the gravest expressions of social exclusion also in Georgia.2 The Public Defender of Georgia3 and the organizations working on these issues4 have been referring to the challenge of homelessness and inaction of the state for many years. In terms of recognizing the problem of homelessness at the national level, the National Strategy for the Protection of Human Rights (2014-2020) adopted by the Parliament of Georgia, which calls for consistent and sustained efforts by the state to address the challenge, is noteworthy. However, none of the action plans developed to implement the Strategy and to address the issue of homelessness. As a result of the Constitutional reform of 2017, the Constitution notes that the state should ensure the provision of adequate housing;5 And in 2018, as part of the Open Government Partnership6 the country has committed itself to develop a homelessness Strategy and its accompanying Action Plan by 2021.7 In this situation, the process should go beyond the declarative framework, namely to create an appropriate national strategy and action plan and attain concrete results in terms of eliminating the problem of homelessness.

Prerequisite for developing a strategy for combating homelessness is to assess the scale of the problem - the homeless groups and the number of people involved should be identified (as well as the causes of homelessness). This is not possible without determining the notion of a homeless person. In national law, there is no clear definition of homelessness, which makes identifying the magnitude of the problem in Georgia, planning homelessness policy and measuring its effectiveness, illusory, in essence. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the notion of homelessness and the criteria to determine whether the person is homeless and propose changes in line with the Georgian context in this regard.

International and various national experiences have been studied during the research process, and the identified standards and trends have been the basis for the assessment of the Georgian reality. Criteria for selecting the countries for comparative legal analysis is their progress in recent years in reducing homelessness or their relative advantage over other countries.8 In the case of Georgia, considering the separation of authorities at the central and local levels, the experiences of several municipalities in relation to homelessness have been studied.

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