FOURTH SECTION
CASE OF MATCHAVARIANI v. GEORGIA
(Application no. 46852/21)
 
JUDGMENT
 
Art 5 § 1 • Deprivation of liberty • Applicant’s administrative detention during administrative-offence proceedings against him not free from arbitrariness • Lack of necessity assessment
Art 6 § 1 (criminal) • Impartial tribunal • Lack of legitimate doubts about the trial judge’s objective impartiality for briefly adjourning the administrative proceedings to allow the police, acting as a prosecuting authority, to gather additional evidence to substantiate the charge against the applicant • Judge’s conduct had a basis in domestic law • Applicant able to comment on evidence without any hinderance • Conviction also rested on other evidence
Art 10 and Art 11 • Applicant’s explicit refusal to comply with police order not to take firewood to the demonstration did not enjoy same privileged protection under the Convention as political speech or debate on public interest questions or the peaceful manifestation of opinions on such matters • Applicant could have joined the demonstration without the firewood • Domestic courts conducted a balancing exercise of the rights at stake • Imposed fine, the least severe sanction provided by domestic law • Margin of appreciation not overstepped • Manifestly ill-founded
 
Prepared by the Registry. Does not bind the Court. STRASBOURG
20 May 2025
 
FINAL
 
20/08/2025
 
This judgment has become final under Article 44 § 2 of the Convention. It may be subject to editorial revision. In the case of Matchavariani v. Georgia,
The European Court of Human Rights (Fourth Section), sitting as a Chamber composed of:
 Jolien Schukking, President,
 Lado Chanturia,
 Faris Vehabović,
 Tim Eicke,
 Lorraine Schembri Orland,
 Anne Louise Bormann,
 András Jakab, judges,
and Simeon Petrovski, Deputy Section Registrar,
Having regard to:
the application (no. 46852/21) against Georgia lodged with the Court under Article 34 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (“the Convention”) by a Georgian national, Mr Aleksi Matchavariani (“the applicant”), on 15 September 2021;
the decision to give notice of the application to the Georgian Government (“the Government”);
the parties’ observations;
Having deliberated in private on 29 April 2025,
Delivers the following judgment, which was adopted on that date:
INTRODUCTION
1. The case concerns the applicant’s administrative detention and subsequent conviction in administrative-offence proceedings for attempting to take firewood to a demonstration. The applicant relied on Articles 5, 6, 10 and 11 of the Convention. THE FACTS
2. The applicant is a civil society activist and a founding member of a non-governmental organisation, the Shame Movement, whose aims, according to the relevant statutory document, include supporting Georgia’s democratic development, protecting human rights and contributing to civic engagement. 3. The applicant was born in 1977 and lives in Tbilisi. He was represented by Mr I. Chitashvili, a lawyer practising in Tbilisi. 4. The Government were represented by their Agent, Mr B. Dzamashvili, of the Ministry of Justice. 5. The facts of the case may be summarised as follows. Background
6. On 31 October 2020 parliamentary elections were held in Georgia. 7. On 8 November 2020 a demonstration took place in Tbilisi to protest against the outcome of the parliamentary elections. Several thousand demonstrators gathered in front of the Parliament building and subsequently moved towards the building of the Central Election Commission (“the CEC”). A number of the demonstrators became violent, throwing various items at the officers in the police cordon and attempting to break through in order to enter the CEC building. The police eventually dispersed the demonstration. 8. On 9 November 2020, as part of special measures to counter the global outbreak of COVID-19, the government issued Decree (დადგენილება) no. 670, which introduced, with immediate effect, a curfew between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. 9. On 9 November 2020 demonstrators and opposition politicians, continuing the protest from the previous day (see paragraph 7 above), gathered in front of the Parliament building. They demanded the resignation of the CEC chairperson and the holding of new parliamentary elections. 10. During a press briefing held that same day, the Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs issued a warning that any breach of the law would receive an immediate response. 11. In parallel to the above-mentioned demonstration, the Shame Movement (see paragraph 2 above) announced that a demonstration of civil disobedience would take place immediately following the one against the outcome of the elections. The aim of the event was to denounce the curfew introduced by the government (see paragraph 8 above) as unfair and unjustified in view of the ongoing political protests. Its participants were to hold a vigil at the Parliament building. Some politicians announced that they would take part. 12. The applicant was one of the organisers of the second demonstration. He attempted to take part in it but was arrested shortly before the event officially started. The applicant’s arrest
13. On the evening of 9 November 2020 at around 9 p.m. the applicant attempted to approach the area where a demonstration (see paragraph 9 above) was taking place. He took along several pieces of firewood. He was stopped by police officers on 9 April Street. They informed the applicant that firewood could not be brought to the demonstration on Rustaveli Avenue. 14. An audio-visual recording of the applicant’s arrest showed him having a verbal altercation with V.S., the head of the Patrol Police Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia (“the MIA”). V.S. informed the applicant that he could not enter the demonstration area with firewood, stating that there had been cases in which firewood had been misused to attack the police and that the applicant had to obey a lawful order not to bring such items to the demonstration or he would risk being arrested. The applicant kept repeating that the order was unlawful, asking to be given information as to which legal provision prohibited taking firewood to a demonstration, and stating that he would not obey such an unlawful order. When V.S. turned his back on the applicant, intending to walk away, the applicant uttered, “We will break you,” and as V.S. turned around, he stated, “We will break this government” and V.S. ordered the applicant’s arrest. V.S. was then shown talking to media outlets stating that firewood had been used in violent activities against the police and that it had also been burnt in front of the Parliament building, posing a danger to the individuals gathered there. 15. The applicant’s administrative-arrest report noted that he had been arrested on 9 April Street, alongside the Parliament building, for disobeying the lawful orders of the police. The exact nature of his conduct was not specified. The report indicated 9.27 p.m. as the time of the arrest. The administrative-offence report of the following morning contained identical information. 16. Following his arrest, the applicant was transferred to a police station and then to a temporary detention facility. Administrative-offence proceedings
17. The Tbilisi City Court, sitting in a single-judge formation, commenced a hearing in the applicant’s case at 12.33 p.m. on 10 November 2020. 18. During the hearing the applicant asked for V.S. (see paragraph 14 above) to be questioned as a witness. He stated that V.S.’s order not to bring firewood to the demonstration had been unlawful, resulting in the applicant being arrested without any legal grounds and being unable to attend the demonstration. The applicant also claimed that V.S. had accused him of insulting the police. The judge dismissed the request given that neither of the parties to the proceedings had contested the factual circumstances regarding the applicant’s arrest as depicted in the video footage available in the case file (see paragraph 14 above), and given that the applicant had not been accused of having insulted the police. The judge therefore found that there was no need to question a witness in those circumstances. 19. As regards the administrative offence with which the applicant was charged, the representatives of the MIA argued that the prohibition on taking firewood to the demonstration had been justified owing to the highly flammable nature of the item in question (section 11(a) of the Assemblies and Demonstrations Act (“the Act”)). They argued that there had been a risk of the firewood being used against the police and stated that there had been past instances where such incidents had taken place at demonstrations. Taking firewood to the demonstration had therefore posed a potential risk to the life and health of the individuals gathered at the event. The representatives of the MIA stated that the applicant’s disobedience had consisted of his protest against the decision of the police not to allow him to take firewood to the demonstration and his verbal expression of his intention to do so anyway. The judge asked whether section 11(b) of the Act was also relevant to the MIA’s claim and also allowed the MIA to present submissions in respect of that provision. 20. The defence argued that the applicant’s arrest had lacked a legal basis and had been arbitrary. Firstly, in the applicant’s submission, the firewood had been intended to be used as a source of heating during the vigil on a cold night and the police had had no grounds to believe that it would have been used for an unlawful objective. In that connection, the applicant submitted, without providing any specific evidence, that he had organised many demonstrations where firewood had been used for heating, without any issues arising. Secondly, the applicant argued that there had been no disobedience or resistance to an order. After the applicant had been given a verbal warning that it was prohibited to take firewood to the demonstration, he had merely protested and sought to be given an explanation from the police officers. The applicant submitted that while he had expressed his desire to take firewood with him, he had not taken any physical action to that end. The real reason behind his arrest had been V.S.’s irritation caused by his protest. 21. During the trial, the judge examining the case addressed a MIA representative and asked him to present evidence that firewood had been misused during demonstrations in the past to substantiate the claim that a similar risk had existed in the applicant’s case. The MIA representative stated that he did not have such evidence before him but that the misuse of firewood at demonstrations, including the previous day (see paragraph 7 above), was public knowledge, owing to media coverage, and similar administrative‑offence cases had already been adjudicated by the Tbilisi City Court. The judge responded that she was not aware of any such precedents and that the officer, when making specific factual allegations, was required to substantiate his position. In that connection, she asked whether he could present such evidence following a brief adjournment. The MIA representative replied that collecting the evidence would be unreasonably time-consuming. The judge explained that the officer’s claim that there was a precedent needed to be substantiated by reference to the cases concerned. As for the claim that such incidents had been reported by the media, the judge stated that she might have “seen a lot of things but” she had to rely on the evidence available in the case file. The judge thus adjourned the proceedings for three hours and instructed the MIA representative to present evidence that proved his claims. No appeal lay against the adjournment decision. 22. Before the decision to adjourn the proceedings took effect, the defence asked for the applicant to be released from detention as there was no reason to keep him there while the proceedings were pending. The trial court dismissed the request. It stated that the court could not assess the lawfulness of his detention, a matter regulated under Article 251 of the Code of Administrative Offences (“the CAO” – see paragraph 38 below), but only whether the time-limit provided in Article 247 of the CAO (see paragraph 37 below) had been complied with. The court noted in that connection that a detained individual was required to remain in detention while the administrative‑offence proceedings were pending, and that a court could order his or her release only if the maximum time-limit of forty-eight hours prescribed in the provision in question had been reached. 23. The proceedings were adjourned between 2.36 p.m. and 6.02 p.m. During that period, the applicant was placed in a detention cell at the Tbilisi City Court. 24. Following the resumption of the proceedings, the MIA representative submitted three video-recordings. The first two related to the events that had occurred near the CEC building on 8 November 2020 (see paragraph 7 above). The date and location of the events in the third video were unknown. All three recordings showed that several demonstrators had thrown various items at the police, including burning firewood. 25. The defence argued that the mere fact that unknown individuals had breached the law in the past by using firewood as weapons could not have served to substantiate the alleged threat of such misuse by the applicant. 26. At 8.03 p.m. the judge delivered the judgment, finding the applicant guilty of conduct prohibited under Article 173 of the CAO. He was ordered to pay an administrative fine of 1,000 Georgian laris (GEL –approximately 255 euros (EUR) at the time). The applicant was then released from detention. 27. According to the judgment, the applicant had disobeyed the lawful order of a police officer, namely V.S., to not take firewood to the ongoing demonstration in front of the Parliament building. The court noted that the applicant had been given an explanation as to why firewood had not been allowed at the demonstration, namely the risk of its being used against the police. The applicant had explicitly stated, as confirmed by the relevant audio-video recording, that he would not comply with that order and that he intended to take the firewood with him regardless of the police officer’s instructions. In that connection, the trial court established that the instruction not to take firewood had been lawful and the applicant had disobeyed it. 28. In particular, the court stated that it had been within the police authorities’ remit to implement measures to prevent the commission of offences, and to ensure the safety of participants in assemblies and demonstrations. Within that context, the court stated that section 11 of the Act contained a prohibition on taking certain items to a demonstration. In the court’s view, sub-paragraph (a) concerned items or substances which posed certain risks regardless of the circumstances. As for sub-paragraph (b), it referred to items in ordinary use which could, however, be regarded as dangerous in specific circumstances. The sub-paragraph in question conferred a certain discretion on the police to determine, depending on the specific circumstances on the ground, whether a certain item could pose a risk to the life and health of the participants in a demonstration or other individuals. In that regard, the court noted that the assessment under sub‑paragraph (b) of section 11 of the Act was to be made by police officers on the basis of clear criteria and ascertainable risk. For the court, even when a risk had been proved to exist in one case, the police were required to conduct a fresh assessment in another case to avoid generalisation and to tailor their approach to the specific case. The court noted that the risk of misusing the firewood had been apparent given that such incidents had taken place a day before the demonstration which the applicant had attempted to join. It relied in that connection on the video-recording submitted by the police (see paragraph 24 above) showing that burning firewood had been thrown at the police during demonstrations. Given that the demonstration in question had been linked to the one of 8 November 2020, in that it had attempted to challenge the curfew on account of its alleged encroachment on the right to protest against the outcome of the parliamentary elections, it would have involved a similar group of demonstrators, carrying a higher risk that the events of the previous day would repeat themselves. On the basis of the video footage available in the case file, the court established that the circumstances substantiated the risk – with respect to an objective observer standard – of firewood being misused at the demonstration which the applicant had intended to join. Accordingly, the police had been authorised, under sub‑paragraph (b) of section 11 of the Act, to prevent the applicant from taking firewood to the demonstration. By extension, their order had been lawful within the meaning of Article 173 of the CAO. As concerns the applicant’s disobedience, the court relied on the video footage showing his arrest (see paragraph 14 above) and established that his disobedience had been explicit. To that end, the court clarified that the offence of disobedience could have been committed by failing to comply with a verbal instruction, whether actively or passively, via physical action or even verbally. As the applicant had expressed his refusal to comply with the police officer’s instruction several times, the trial court found that the police had been justified when they had “started administrative-offence proceedings against him”. The court thus established that the applicant was guilty of conduct proscribed under Article 173 of the CAO. 29. The applicant was given a copy of the judgment on 19 February 2021. 30. On 22 February 2021 the applicant lodged an appeal. Among other things, he argued that the police ought to have decided in favour of the applicant’s right to freedom of expression and assembly and other individuals’ improper use of firewood should not have been relied on to justify the interference with his rights; in any event, the order not to take firewood to the demonstration was not sufficient grounds for his arrest as he could have remained where he was to express his protest; and it had been solely his verbal protest which had irritated the head of the Patrol Police Department and served as the real reason for his arrest. The applicant also complained that his arrest had been an unnecessary measure; under Article 244 of the CAO, it ought to have been a measure of last resort for a limited number of aims listed therein, whereas he had been kept in detention until the conclusion of the proceedings against him. The applicant also complained that the trial court’s decision not to order his release had not been justified. In addition, the applicant submitted that the trial court had unjustifiably refused to question V.S. and the judge had assisted the representative of the MIA in formulating the factual basis of the accusation against him, contrary to the principles of equality of arms and adversarial proceedings. According to the applicant, “the judge had effectively assumed the role of the accusing party because of the inertia shown by the [police and] actively participated in the ... collection of evidence which may have strengthened the [accusation].” As an example the applicant referred to the judge’s request addressed to the police officer and her insistence to present video recordings that demonstrated the misuse of firewood. He submitted that his arrest, detention and conviction had resulted in a breach of Articles 5, 6, 10 and 11 of the Convention. 31. On 17 March 2021 the Tbilisi Court of Appeal, sitting as a court of final instance in a single-judge formation, dismissed the applicant’s appeal by means of written proceedings. It upheld the lower court’s judgment in full. Among other things, the Court of Appeal noted that the parties had not contested the factual circumstances shown in the video-recording relating to the applicant’s arrest. It therefore agreed with the trial court’s reasoning as regards the refusal to question V.S. Relying on the case-law of the Constitutional Court, the Court of Appeal further clarified that the phrase “may be used” in section 11(b) had been intended to cover situations such as the applicant’s, where there had been a reasonable risk that an otherwise ordinary object could be used to harm individuals. In that respect, the courts were to look at all the circumstances of a case and the broader context rather than solely the conduct of one individual demonstrator. Agreeing with the lower court’s assessment of the link between the events of 8 November 2020 and the demonstration the applicant had been planning to join (see paragraph 28 above), the appellate court stated that there had been a risk of firewood being used to harm the police or other individuals at the demonstration. In that connection the appellate court noted that the rights under Article 10 and Article 11 of the Convention were not absolute and that the interference in the present case had been necessary to achieve the legitimate aim of protecting the rights of others. 32. As to the manner in which the proceedings had been conducted before the trial court, the appellate court found that “there had been no significant procedural shortcomings” and the case had been decided in compliance with the applicable legislation. 33. Lastly, as regards the question of detention, the appellate court disagreed with the applicant’s argument that there had been no grounds to keep him in detention while the proceedings were pending before the trial court and that the latter ought to have ordered his release. In that connection, it noted that the maximum period for that type of detention specified in Article 247 of the CAO had not expired and the administrative proceedings had still been ongoing. In addition, bearing in mind that Article 173 of the CAO provided for a custodial sanction, the applicant’s detention during the proceedings had been aimed at ensuring the implementation of any such potential sanction in his case. The appellate court also noted that the applicant had not remained in detention for the maximum period permitted for administrative arrest, the period of his detention more or less coinciding with the oral proceedings held before the trial court. His complaint was therefore found to have been unsubstantiated. RELEVANT LEGAL FRAMEWORK
34. Article 173 of the Code of Administrative Offences (CAO), as worded at the material time, provided that “disobeying a lawful instruction or order [issued by] a law-enforcement officer on duty ... or insulting [the latter]” was punishable by a fine of a minimum of GEL 1,000 and a maximum of GEL 4,000, or up to fifteen days’ administrative detention. 35. Article 244 § 1 (“Measures to secure the conduct of administrative‑offence proceedings”) of the CAO states as follows:
“In order to put an end to the commission of administrative offences in instances explicitly provided for by the legislative instruments of Georgia, when all other measures (ზემოქმედების სხვა ზომები) have been exhausted, and in order to determine an individual’s identity, to draft an administrative-offence report (if that report is necessary but cannot be done on the spot), and to ensure the timely and due consideration of an administrative-offence case and the enforcement of [any] decisions (დადგენილება) taken [in that context], an individual may be placed under administrative arrest, subjected to a personal search or a search of his or her belongings, and have belongings and documents seized from him or her.”
36. Article 246(a) authorises MIA officials, including police officers, to place an administrative offender under administrative arrest within the meaning of Article 244 § 1 of the CAO (see the previous paragraph), in respect of a defined list of offences. The list includes disobeying the lawful instructions or orders of a police officer (see paragraph 34 above). 37. Article 247 § 1 of the CAO, as worded at the material time, provided that the “administrative arrest of an individual who has committed an administrative offence shall not last longer than twelve hours”. Article 247 § 2 provided that “an individual whose period of arrest coincides with non-working hours (არასამუშაო დროს) may be ... placed in a preliminary detention cell until a final decision is taken by an authorised authority. In such cases the overall length of the administrative arrest shall not exceed forty-eight hours.”
38. Article 251 of the CAO provides that “interested parties may lodge an appeal against an administrative arrest, a personal search, a search of objects, [or] the confiscation of objects or documents with a superior authority (or office holder) or a prosecutor”. It does not define a time-limit for lodging the complaint or the time-limit applicable to its consideration. 39. Article 4 (“Adversarial proceedings and the investigation of a case by a court”) of the Code of Administrative Procedure of Georgia provides as follows:
“During the examination of an administrative-law case the parties shall enjoy the rights and duties granted by Article 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure of Georgia[;] additionally the court may, of its own initiative, decide to [require the parties to] present additional information or evidence.”
40. Under Article 4 (“principle of adversarial [proceedings]”) of the Code of Civil Procedure:
“1. Legal proceedings shall be conducted on the basis of the principle of adversarial [proceedings]. Parties shall have equal rights and opportunities to substantiate their claims [and] reject or refute claims, opinions or evidence presented by the other party. It shall be the parties who determine which facts serve as the basis for their claims or which evidence must be used to verify those facts. 2. To verify the circumstances of a case, a court may, on its own initiative, apply the means provided for in this Code.”
41. Section 11(2) of the Assemblies and Demonstrations Act (“the Act”), at the material time and in so far as relevant, provided as follows:
“2. It shall be prohibited for participants in an assembly or a demonstration to:
(a) carry firearms[;] explosive, flammable or radioactive substances, or cold weapons;
(b) carry such items or substances that are used or may be used to cause harm to the life and health of participants in an assembly or a demonstration, or other individuals;
...”
42. The broader relevant legal framework has been summarised in Makarashvili and Others v. Georgia (nos. 23158/20 and 2 others, §§ 30-44, 1 September 2022) and Dzerkorashvili and Others v. Georgia (no. 70572/16, §§ 40-52 and 54, 2 March 2023). THE LAW
ALLEGED VIOLATION OF ARTICLE 5 OF THE CONVENTION
43. The applicant complained that his arrest and detention while the administrative proceedings were pending had been arbitrary and unlawful. He relied on Article 5 of the Convention, which, in so far as relevant, reads as follows:
“1. Everyone has the right to liberty and security of person. No one shall be deprived of his liberty save in the following cases and in accordance with a procedure prescribed by law: ... (c) the lawful arrest or detention of a person effected for the purpose of bringing him before the competent legal authority on reasonable suspicion of having committed an offence or when it is reasonably considered necessary to prevent his committing an offence or fleeing after having done so; ...”
AdmissibilityThe parties’ submissions

44. The Government submitted that the applicant had failed to exhaust domestic remedies. They stated that he should have (a) instituted civil/administrative proceedings to claim damages at domestic level; and (b) submitted a complaint in relation to the allegedly “unlawful deprivation of liberty” to the General Inspectorate of the MIA, in order for the latter to respond to any potential errors committed in the performance of official duties and/or illegal actions by its employees. 45. In the alternative, the Government argued that the applicant’s arrest and detention had been lawful, necessary and compatible with Article 5 of the Convention. His complaint was therefore manifestly ill-founded. 46. The applicant submitted that his complaint had already been raised and addressed as part of the administrative-offence proceedings against him. He had therefore not been required to institute separate proceedings.

Outcome for Article 5: violation