ECHR Finds Georgia Violated Rights in Protest-Related Detention Case
By Liza Mchedlidze
Wednesday, May 21, 2025
The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has ruled that Georgia violated the rights of Lexo Matchavariani, a protester detained in 2020, by failing to properly assess the legality of his detention. The judgment, announced today, found a breach of Article 5, paragraph 1 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the right to liberty and security.
According to a statement from Transparency International - Georgia, the Strasbourg Court held that domestic courts should have examined whether Matchavariani's arrest was lawful, necessary, and proportionate. Matchavariani had been detained during a 2020 protest and held in administrative custody for 22 hours before being fined 1,000 GEL.
The Court emphasized that compliance with the formal 48-hour detention limit does not in itself render the detention lawful. Even when administrative offenses provide a legal basis for detention, national courts are still obligated to assess the necessity and proportionality of such measures in the context of individual circumstances.
"The domestic courts' failure to conduct this assessment, and their practice of directing detainees to file separate civil lawsuits to challenge the legality of their detention, was found by the ECHR to be unjustified," Transparency International - Georgia noted.
While the Court upheld Matchavariani's claim under Article 5, it dismissed his complaints under Articles 10 and 11, which relate to freedom of expression and assembly, as well as his Article 6 complaint concerning the right to a fair trial.
