Constitutional Court Rules President of Georgia Violated Constitution
By Liza Mchedlidze
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
The Constitutional Court has determined that President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili violated the Constitution by traveling to EU countries without government consent. Six judges signed the decision, while three disagreed. This conclusion was announced on October 16 by the full panel of judges during a plenary session of the court.
"The court explained that a violation of one provision established by the constitution could not be justified under the pretext of protecting another provision, even with good intentions as a motivation. The Constitutional Court also emphasized that the oath taken by President Salome Zourabichvili obliges her to protect the Constitution of Georgia.
The court also explained that the president was well aware of the need for the government's consent in exercising representative authority in the field of foreign relations, which was proven by a number of circumstances, and it should be considered a reasonable presumption within the scope of her authority," the statement from the Constitutional Court reads.
Maia Kopaleishvili, the representative of President Zourabichvili in the Constitutional Court, responded to this decision during a special briefing held at the Orbeliani Palace. She stated, "The conclusion is tendentious. I want to make it clear that, in fact, the Constitutional Court has essentially repeated and endorsed the views presented in the constitutional submissions one by one."
According to Kopaleishvili, this once again indicates that the Constitutional Court has fully immersed itself in the political process with this conclusion.
"Naturally, we do not share or agree with the Constitutional Court's conclusion. While we couldn't conduct a detailed review due to time constraints, we examined the key circumstances, and the conclusion appears biased. I want to emphasize that, in fact, the Constitutional Court essentially reiterated and adopted the positions and terms of the authors of the constitutional submissions without making any changes to their opinions or terms," Kopaleishvili said.
Tamar Chugoshvili stated at the briefing that the Parliament could not provide any evidence during the court hearings confirming the President's attempt to obstruct Georgia's candidate status.
The consideration of the Georgian Dream submission in the Constitutional Court lasted for three days. Following the Constitutional Court's opinion, the Parliament is required to address and vote on the matter of the President's impeachment within two weeks.
To impeach the President in Parliament, a two-thirds majority of the full composition, which amounts to 100 deputies, is necessary. At present, the majority in the Parliament holds 82 deputies, falling short of the required number for impeachment.
The constitution specifies that the President of Georgia can be removed from office through impeachment if this decision garners the support of at least two-thirds of the full composition of the parliament.
