Imprisonment for Use of Certain Drugs Declared Unconstitutional

The Constitutional Court of Georgia has made a new declaration concerning the punishment for the use of certain narcotics. The legislative branch proved it unconstitutional to imprison those who have used narcotics that are not highly addictive and do not cause aggressive behavior. The new law also applies to the preparation, sale and possession of narcotics. The restriction is that the amount must be enough only for one-time use.

The Constitutional Court announced that the First Panel of the Constitutional Court of Georgia partially granted the constitutional claim of the Public Defender of Georgia against the Parliament.

The Constitutional Court published a statement that reads: "The Ombudsman of Georgia indicated in the claim that the actions punishable by the disputed norms did not pose a public threat that would justify the application of prison sentences. Accordingly, the Ombudsman considered that the sanctions imposed by the disputed norms, such as administrative imprisonment and imprisonment, were unconstitutional, as obviously disproportionate punishment, in relation to Article 9 (1) and (2) of the Constitution of Georgia”.