§ Article 31Procedural rights

Procedural rights

1. Every person has the right to apply to a court to defend his/her rights. The right to a fair and timely trial shall be ensured.

2. Every person shall be tried only by a court that has jurisdiction over the case.

3. The right to defence shall be guaranteed. Everyone has the right to defend his/her rights before a court in person or through a
lawyer, or through a representative in cases defined by law. The unrestricted exercise of the rights of a lawyer, as well as the right
of lawyers to self-organisation, shall be guaranteed by law.

4. The defendant shall have the right to request that his/her witnesses be called and interrogated under the same conditions as the
witnesses of the prosecution.

5. A person shall be presumed innocent until proved guilty, in accordance with the procedures established by law and the court’s
judgment of conviction that has entered into legal force.

6. No one shall be obliged to prove his/her innocence. The burden of proof shall rest with the prosecution.

7. A decision to commit an accused for trial shall be based on a reasonable belief, and a judgment of conviction shall be based on

http://www.matsne.gov.ge 010.010.000.01.001.000.116
incontrovertible evidence. Any suspicion that cannot be proved in accordance with the procedures established by law shall be
resolved in the defendant’s favour.

8. No one shall be convicted again for the same crime.

9. No one shall be held responsible for an action that did not constitute an offence at the time when it was committed. No law
shall have retroactive force unless it reduces or abrogates responsibility.

10. Evidence obtained in violation of the law shall have no legal force.

11. No one shall be obliged to testify against himself/herself or against his/her relatives, as determined by law.

Constitutional Law of Georgia No 1324 of 13 October 2017 – website, 19.10.2017

Constitutional Law of Georgia No 2071 of 23 March 2018 – website, 2.4.2018