2015 was marked by a hunger strike started by 60 prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment. They demanded that their sentences be modified to a fixed-term, eligible for eventual reduction and parole. Whilst the strike ended in March, the prisoners demands were not met.

The Georgian prison population has decreased over the last four years. It reached a peak in 2012, with 23,469 prisoners and one of the highest incarceration rates in the world (521.8). A new government took office in 2012 and started reform, granting amnesty to 3,000 prisoners and reducing the sentences of 10,000 others.

After a decrease in the prison population to 7,658 inmates in 2013, the prison population rose again to 10,525 in 2015. High recidivism rates have been a key contributor to this rebound.