Dark Legacy of Zero Tolerance in Georgia (Criminal Punishment and Sentencing)

Following much-praised promises to reduce crime to zero Georgian Government in 2004 imposed a “zero tolerance” policy embodied in both criminal legislation and legal practice. The fateful phrase “No probation! Everybody to the prison!” explicitly indicated the way of thinking of government officials at that time. This, of course, primarily affected regulations on criminal punishment and sentencing. Unfortunately, the principle of proportionality was largely disregarded, and the goals of punishment were narrowed. In 2012, the new government faced all the consequences of such a one-sided approach – overcrowded prisons, massive human rights violations, etc. As expected, the policy was largely revised. Some radical regulations were repealed. For example, a judge was allowed to use absorption or partial addition of punishment when imposing a sentence in the case of cumulative crimes and cumulative sentences. Sadly, many instances of punishment, such as conditional sentence, imposing more lenient sentences than provided for by law, etc., remain unchanged, presenting the dark legacy of zero tolerance policy.