The European Court of Human Rights has announced the decision into the case of Rustavi 2 TV company.

As noted in the court decision, the ECHR unanimously decided to lift the interim measure under Rule 39 of its Rules of Court, on the basis of which the enforcement of the decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia regarding the Rustavi 2 TV company had been suspended. “Court decided, unanimously, to lift the interim measure under Rule 39 of its Rules of Court indicating to the Georgian Government that it should among other things suspend enforcement of the decision of March 2017” – the judgment of ECHR reads.

The European Court of Human Rights also ruled that there was no violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal)  of the European Convention on Human Rights as concerned the  judge of the Tbilisi City Court, the judge of the Tbilisi Court of Appeal and the Grand Chamber of the Supreme Court.

“In today’s Chamber judgment in the case the European Court held: by six votes to one, that there had been no violation of Article 6 § 1 (right to a fair trial by an independent and impartial tribunal) of the European Convention on Human Rights as concerned the judge deciding the case at first-instance; unanimously, that there had been no violation of Article 6 § 1 of the European Convention as concerned the court deciding the case on appeal; by six votes to one, that there had been no violation of Article 6 § 1 as concerned the composition of the bench deciding the case during the cassation proceedings before the Supreme Court”, – the ruling of Court reads.

The parties have a three-month period to appeal to the decision to the Grand Chamber of the Strasbourg Court. If the decision is not appealed within the timeframe, it will enter into force after three months. “Under Articles 43 and 44 of the Convention, this Chamber judgment is not final. During the three-month period following its delivery,
any party may request that the case be referred to the Grand Chamber of the Court. If such a request is made, a panel of five judges considers whether the case deserves further examination. In that event, the Grand Chamber will hear the case and deliver a final judgment. If the referral request is refused, the Chamber judgment will become final on that day”, – it is noted in the decision of ECHR.

Businessman Kibar Khalvashi started a legal dispute over Rustavi 2  in 2015. According to the decision of the Supreme Court of Georgia, Kibar Khalvashi and Company Panorama were announced as owners of TV Company. By the request of TV Company, on 3 March, the European Court of Human Rights suspended enforcement of the decision made on March 2 by Grand Chamber of Supreme Court of Georgia into the case of Rustavi 2 TV Company.