Salome Zurabishvili did not veto the bill on the abolition of the state inspector's service

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili signed amendments to the Law on the State Inspector's Service.

According to the President's statement, the abolition of the service and the creation of new structures does not create grounds for the President's motivated remarks.

“Today I signed amendments to the law on the State Inspector's Service, which provide for the abolition of this service and the creation of new structures in its place. There have been and remain different views about these structural changes, although the decision itself does not contain a categorical legal objection. The abolition of the service and the creation of new structures do not in themselves give rise to motivated remarks of a legal nature on the part of the President.

At the same time, I find it unacceptable to pass such an important law in an expedited manner, without any consultation and proper discussion. Moreover, the need for expedited consideration of the amendments was not substantiated by anything.

It is unacceptable that in a country striving to strengthen democracy, such a key issue as personal data protection is not given enough time and space for discussion.

This is a very bad precedent when the head of an independent service, a person elected for a 6-year term, is fired without prior warning and a reasoned comment about his professional activities. Moreover, strengthening the independence and inviolability of officials remains one of the most important tasks for our country.

As a result of legislative changes, an unfair situation has developed, which I share and express my negative attitude towards this process. I hope that a solution will be found that allows the state inspector in one of the newly created services to continue his activities with all the guarantees of independence. The decision taken in relation to this official determines the degree of independence of the rest of the employees.

As for the second, the Organic Law on General Courts, the amendments to which I also signed today, these legislative changes also raise some questions. However, I do consider the grounds for a legal response to these changes to be insufficient. Nevertheless, in this case, the question arises whether it is possible through these changes to increase the degree of independence of judges. For example, the re-election / appointment of members of the High Council of Justice for the second time in a row raises the question of whether this opportunity will increase the degree of independence of the members of the Council or help in the process of personnel renewal. Similar questions arise with respect to other changes.

However, the president will not be able to make a decision based on doubts. “Instead, I want to warn lawmakers about the dangers of the new law and remind them that the independence and impartiality of judges is the cornerstone of our democracy. I also want to assure everyone that I will be very attentive to the law enforcement process”, - wrote Salome Zurabishvili.