2017-06-29
Greetings,
Mr. President,
Mr. Speaker of the Parliament,
Mr. Chair of the Constitutional Court,
Ms. Chair of the Supreme Court!
I welcome the Chair of the Government of Adjara, the President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, and the Head of the EU Delegation to Georgia.
I welcome representatives of the diplomatic corps, honorable members of the Government, members of the parliament, and, of course, chairs of constitutional court and our very dear guests.
First of all I would like to thank you for participating in this important forum.
It is an honor to host the 17th Congress of European Constitutional Courts, and its wide range of participants, here in Georgia.
We are genuinely proud of the growing numbers of frequent high-level international events in Georgia over the past few years.
In addition, our country has been granted a great privilege of being the only non-EU state to be elected Chair of the Conference of European Constitutional Courts.
Dear friends,
It is common knowledge that a well-balanced constitution grounded in democratic principles guarantees a given country's democratic development and progress.
After the 2010 constitutional amendments, Georgia wound up with a largely flawed constitution with numerous inconsistencies and norms contradicting constitutional logic.
Consequently, our political team came up with a set of constitutional initiatives and, based on unprecedented public debates, the Constitutional Commission bringing together politicians, NGOs, and independent experts ultimately developed constitutional amendments that will enable Georgia to have a well-balanced constitution stemming from democratic principles.
We are talking about a constitution that ensures:
1. A comprehensive parliamentary model of government
2. Clearly distributed duties between the branches of government
3. A strong parliament with its natural role
4. Simplified procedures for a parliamentary motion of no confidence in the government
5. Greater effectiveness of the government
6. Better defined functions of the President as a neutral arbiter
7. Stronger protection of human rights and society as a whole, and
8. Interim constitutional provisions enshrining the country's foreign policy trajectory.
In addition, we should bear in mind that Georgia is about to switch to proportional representation, a clear demonstration of the political will of our team, a great achievement, because although this issue may have been raised under the previous governments, still none of them had enough political will actually to make these changes a reality.
As for the day of introducing proportional representation, a consensus has been reached on the year 2024 with the majority elected by our citizens, which will be reflected in the constitution.
We deeply appreciate the fact that the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe has commended said constitutional amendments, and the key principles thereof, as an important step toward Georgia's democratic development.
To ensure the ultimate success of this process, we are continuing our active cooperation with the Venice Commission and political dialogue on the ground. I would like to once again express our immense gratitude to the Commission and personally President Gianni Buquicchio for their invaluable assistance in this process. We had a very interesting meeting. We discussed the process implemented so far, and I expressed commitment to continuing both cooperation with the commission and political dialogue.
As you know, any democratic state is based on the principle of rule of law, which, for its part, is impossible to implement without an independent judiciary in place. An independent court is key to a genuinely democratic state in that it instills public trust in the country's judiciary.
Our country has experienced firsthand how important the role of the judiciary is in nurturing faith in civic values and legal institutions. Georgia has been through a lot on this path. Today, however, I am convinced that this process continues in the right direction, as the Constitutional Court, as the main guarantor of Georgia's Constitution, will make a tremendous contribution to developing the highest standards of legal culture in our country and society.
In addition, allow me to emphasize the importance of cooperation and dialogue between institutions in charge of constitutional control.
Therefore, I am convinced that this congress will prove a success, allowing for interesting exchange of ideas and experience that will benefit all participating states, including Georgia, of course.
Please accept my sincere wishes for productive work.
Thank you for your time. Thank you for joining us.