The Administration of the President of Georgia released the text of the Georgian Charter, which President Salome Zurabishvili offered to political parties yesterday.
Based on the document, the Georgian Charter reflects the order and demand of Georgian society. It also serves in its essence and spirit to take the main steps that are of existential importance for that society today.
The steps, which the signatories of this charter will undertake, echo the 9 points of the European recommendation.
These are the steps:
“Revocation of laws harmful to the country’s European course
“We will immediately repeal all laws that contradict the European Way and European recommendations. In particular, the Law on Transparency of Foreign Influence, i.e. the Russian Law, amendments to the Election Code, the so-called tapping and offshore laws, etc.
“We will also cancel politically motivated cases against the demonstrators participating in the 2024 protest and we will announce an amnesty.
“Liberating and restoring trust in the justice system
“Liberating the court:
“We will get rid of the clan rule by checking the good faith of judges, through checking the origin of undocumented property;
“The inspection will concern all those judges whose politically motivated decisions have damaged trust in the court and its reputation;
“The inspection will concern all members of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Council of Justice, the Supreme Court, the chairmen of the Court of Appeal and the City Court;
“The check will also apply to all new judges. New judges will be added to the court who will eliminate the violation of the terms of consideration of cases;
“The system of electronic distribution of cases will be fully implemented in the court in order to exclude political influences in the process of distribution of cases;
“Judges will not be able to hold administrative positions for a second term;
“We will strengthen the mandate of the jury court and extend its authority to cases of high public interest.”
Of the fundamental reform of the High Council of Justice, the Charter seeks the following:
“Excess powers will be revoked, namely:
“The right to disciplinary proceedings, which is a lever for prosecuting judges;
“The right to elect chairpersons of administrative bodies;
“The School of Justice will be independent from the Council;
“The procedure for selecting judges of the Supreme Court will change: the Council will examine candidates only according to the criteria established by the constitution, and submit a complete list to the parliament, which will select them.”
Further, Council members shall be prohibited from:
“Occupying other administrative positions;
“Being elected twice.”
Important decisions in the Council will be influenced by non-judge members.
“Other priority steps of the reforms will concern:
Prosecutor’s Office- The Prosecutor’s General will be elected by a high quorum and only for one term, while the Prosecutorial Council will be strengthened
SSS/MIA:
In order to deconcentrate power, a fundamental reform of the State Security Service and the Ministry of Internal Affairs will be carried out. Effective parliamentary control will be established on the activities of each of them, which will protect them from political influences.
Special Investigative Service;
We will strengthen and grant real independence to the Service to allow it to protect the rights of citizens in cases of violence committed by law enforcement officers.
Anti-Corruption Agency:
We will separate it the from executive government and give it real leverage. First of all, we will equip it with investigative powers relating to the corruption cases.
The head of the agency will be elected by the Parliament of Georgia and he will be accountable to the Parliament.
National Bank:
We will restore independence by increasing the number of board members and the balance between executive and non-executive members.
We will exclude the possibility of making individual decisions.
The order made by the head of the National Bank, which contradicts the international obligations of Georgia, will be annulled.
Regulatory bodies:
We will free them from political influence and independent leaders will be appointed democratically.
Strengthening the electoral system:
Appropriate conditions will be created for holding fair and free elections:
The procedure for electing the chairman of the CEC and staffing the CEC will be improved, the threshold will be lowered, the possibility of creating blocs will be restored, the procedure for financing parties will be revised, and the diaspora will be given the opportunity to participate in elections.
Creating a new political reality
We, the signatories of this charter, who will receive a mandate from the Georgian people in the elections of October 26, 2024, undertake and promise to fulfill the conditions written in this charter before the end of the first spring session, and upon completion, early parliamentary elections will be prepared and held in free and fair conditions.
Also, we pledge that the government, which will be responsible for the implementation of this action plan, will be nominated by the President of Georgia”, reads the Charter.
