In 2013, as a follow-up to public consultations on improving the acting company law in Georgia, a working group was established to elaborate a new Draft Law of Georgia on Entrepreneurs (“Draft Law”). The working group was created under the Private Law Reform Council of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia, the USAID-funded Judicial Independence and Legal Empowerment Project, which was succeeded by the Promoting Rule of Law in Georgia (PROLoG) Activity, with both projects implemented by the East-West Management Institute (EWMI), was a cooperating partner
In the summer of 2017, Georgia experienced an unusually high number of forest fires across the entire country. 35 forest fires were recorded just in August (official data reporting the size of area burned by these fires is not yet available). In almost all regions of the country, several fires were reported. Among them, the conflagration in the Borjomi gorge had the most dramatic consequences: it lasted for seven days (20-27 August), and more than 100 hectares of forest were destroyed. Many people claim that these cannot be all accidental events.
Georgia has a number of laws and regulations governing water resources, dating back to the late nineties and partially amended after 2003. Changes, however, have not always followed a clear and coherent strategy. As a result, in the words of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the current legislation is an “unworkable and fragmented system”.
ISET-PI is working on a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) on the Draft Law of Georgia on Biodiversity. This project will emphasize the consideration of Sustainable Development Goals in the RIA approach.
After the Rose Revolution, in the name of of economic growth, the Georgian government set aside environmental issues and focused on a quick economic recovery. This is understandable, as the Georgian economy was still recovering from the collapse of the early 90’s, and the pressure to accelerate the process was high. At that time, the existing environmental regulations were perceived as an additional constraint to faster growth, and as potentially fertile ground for corruption.