On December 7, 2017, the Public Defender addressed the State Security Service of Georgia and LEPL Public Service Development Agency with a recommendation to eliminate the errors detected in relation to the issuance of a residence permit.

The Public Defender examined the legality of the refusal of issuance of a labour residence permit for L.M., citizen of Azerbaijan, on his own initiative and found that the administrative body relied not on the legal basis of the case when making a decision, but on the argument of state security, existence of which could not be proved in the present case. The abovementioned led to inadequate substantiation of the decision by the Agency, which substantially violated L.M.’s legitimate interests.

The Public Defender of Georgia requests each negative decision on residence permits to provide relevant legal basis and the argument of state security to be used only in the cases and scopes strictly defined by law.