The State Constitutional Commission has completed its work on revising the Georgian Constitution.[1] The last session was held on April 22, which was followed by the launch of General Public Discussions.

During the revision process, the Commission considered a number of initiatives proposed by its members as well as outside groups and individuals. These initiatives and various drafts of the Constitution (that did not end up being considered) were not made publicly available on the Parliament website. Transparency International Georgia believes that this information is nevertheless of interest to the public.

Below we present information about constitutional changes proposed to the Commission, draft constitutions submitted during the revision process and the schedule of General Public Discussions.

Creation of the Commission

On December 15, 2016, the Parliament of Georgia set up a 73 member State Constitutional Commission to revise the country’s Constitution. Chairman of the Parliament Irakli Kobakhidze was appointed as the Chairman of the Commission; First Deputy Chairwoman of Parliament Tamar Chugoshvili was appointed as its Secretary.

Four working groups were created in the Constitutional Commission:

• Working group on Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, the Judiciary, Preamble and the General and Transitional provisions of the Constitution of Georgia.
• Working group on Parliament of Georgia, Finances and Control and revision of the Constitution of Georgia.
• Working group on President of Georgia, The Government of Georgia and the defense.
• Working group on Administrative-territorial arrangement and local self-governance.

The composition of the Commission was determined by an order[U1] of the Chairman of the Parliament:

• Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia.
• Members of the parliamentary majority, parliamentary minority, and parliamentary factions not part of either parliamentary majority or minority; independent members of Parliament.
• Representatives of independent parties and parties that are listed first in a political bloc, which participated in the last parliamentary elections, could not overcome the electoral threshold, but received at least 3% of votes.
• Head of the Administration of the President of Georgia and the Parliamentary Secretary of the President of Georgia.
• Minister of Justice of Georgia and the Parliamentary Secretary of the Government of Georgia.
• Chairperson of the Constitutional Court of Georgia.
• Chairperson of the Supreme Court of Georgia.
• Heads of the Supreme Representative and Executive bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Adjara.
• Public Defender of Georgia.
• President of the National Bank of Georgia.
• General Auditor of the State Audit Service.
• Secretary of the National Security Council.
• Experts and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

The number of Commission members from the parliamentary majority, parliamentary minority and factions not part of either the majority or minority was determined based on the proportion of parliamentary mandates held my each group:

• Parliamentary majority - 23 members
• Parliamentary minority - 8 members
• Faction Georgian Patriots - 2 members
• Independent Member of Parliament - 1 member

Immediately after the creation of the Commission, the President of Georgia declared in protest that he would not be involved in its work. This decision was mainly based on the fact that the Parliament turned down the President’s proposed procedure for creating the Commission and did not appoint him as a co-chair. Three representatives of the President's Administration (Head of the President’s Administration, Secretary of the National Security Council and President’s Parliamentary Secretary), who were supposed to be members of the Commission, did not participate in its work.

Several other members also left the Commission prior to the completion of its work; a relevant order was signed by the Chairman of the Parliament. These members made both oral and written statements boycotting the Commission because the ruling party refused to take into account the proposal of opposition parties related to the election system.

The following members left the Constitutional Commission prior to the completion of its work:

• Parliamentary minority (Sergi Kapanadze, Otar Kakhidze, Giorgi Tugushi, Zurab Chiaberashvili, Khatuna Gogorishvili, Salome Samadashvili, Mamuka Chikovani, Irakli Abesadze).
• Members of the faction Georgian Patriots (Irma Inashvili; Nato Chkheidze).

Representatives of parties that participated in the last parliamentary elections, could not overcome the electoral threshold, but received at least 3% of votes:

• Shalva Shavgulidze (Free Democrats)
• Dimitri Lortkipanidze (Democratic Movement – United  Georgia)
• Giorgi Gugava (Labor Party)
• Nika Machutadze (Movement – State for the People).

Initiatives and drafts considered by the Commission

During its work, the Constitutional Commission received a number of initiatives and alternative proposals made by its members as well as non-member natural and legal persons. These initiatives were discussed by relevant working groups. The work of the Constitutional Commission was divided into three stages.

The following is the list of draft constitutions and initiatives submitted during the first stage of the Commission's work:

The final draft constitution

The State Constitutional Commission approved the final draft constitutions of Georgia and the Autonomous Republic of Adjara with a vote of 43 against 8.[3] The document (which has the form of a draft law) was signed by 108 Members of Parliament. These signatures were then validated by the Procedural Issues and Rules Committee of the Parliament. The conclusion of the Committee was submitted to the Bureau of Parliament, after which the draft law on revising the constitution is considered to be initiated in the Parliament.

• Draft law on revising the constitution
• Explanatory note of the draft law on revising the constitution
• Draft constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara
• Explanatory note of the draft constitution of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara

General Public Discussion

During a plenary session, the Parliament approved a 9 member composition of the General Public Discussion Commission. The Commission is headed by the Chairman of the Parliament Irakli Kobakhidze.

The General Public Discussion Commission consists of:

• First Deputy Chairwoman of the Parliament - Tamar Chugoshvili
• Deputy Chairwoman of the Parliament - Irma Inashvili
• Deputy Chairman of Parliament - Sergi Kapanadze
• MP - Zurab Chiaberashvili
• Expert - Vasil Gonashvili
• Expert - Tengiz Sharmanashvili
• Executive Director of Transparency International Georgia - Eka Gigauri
• Head Specialist of the Parliament Chairperson’s Cabinet - Tornike Cheishvili

The Parliament also determined the schedule for holding General Public Discussions:

• May 5 - Kutaisi
• May 6 - Ambrolauri
• May 7 - Ozurgeti
• May 8 - Batumi
• May 9 - Zugdidi
• May 10 - Akhaltsikhe
• May 11 - Gori
• May 12 - Telavi
• May 13 - Mtskheta
• May 14 - Rustavi
• May 15 - Tbilisi