Georgian Public Defender Levan Ioseliani, who attended yesterday’s first session of the new Parliament, claims that it was convened legitimately. Thirty-four members of his office issued a statement rebuking this stance.
Ioseliani told the media, “The only body we work for throughout the year is the Georgian Parliament, to which we submit a report. So, I don’t understand your question about the legitimacy of the Parliament. The convening of the Georgian Parliament took place absolutely legitimately.” He stressed that Article 38 of the Constitution stipulates that the Parliament should be convened no later than ten days after the CEC announces the final results.
“Any other article, any other legal provision, including the constitutional complaint, cannot be superior to the constitutional provision that Parliament should be convened no later than ten days [after the CEC issues the final results], which is what happened and which was of course legitimate,” Ioseliani claimed.
The current Public Defender, elected by the parliament in March 2023 as a result of a convoluted compromise, through the process, watchdogs claimed that it was “conducted without public involvement and participation, which is inconsistent with Recommendation 12 of the European Union, violates the Paris Principles adopted by the United Nations, and has no public trust.” Subsequently, Ioseliani was often criticized by watchdogs for his accommodating stance towards the ruling party and for being slow to react to human rights violations, especially during the police’s brutal dispersal of peaceful demonstrators.
34 Employees of the Public Defender Office Dissent
Public Defenders’ Office staff who carry on day-to-day activities issued a statement saying, “We, the employees of the Public Defender’s Office, have been and remain loyal to the people, state interests and the basic principles of [this] constitutional body… We regret that the Public Defender is involved in such a process, which violates the constitutional-legal order and damages the trust in the Public Defender’s Office as an independent constitutional body.”
“On November 25, in disregard of the provisions of the Constitution of Georgia and the Rules of Procedure of the Georgian Parliament, the powers of those members of the Parliament of Georgia whose election had not yet been ruled on by the Court were recognized,” the statement adds.
Those who consider the Parliament illegitimate, including the President, the opposition, legal experts, as well as the employees of the Public Defender office, point out that the President’s lawsuit in the country’s Constitutional Court challenges the legality of the election of all 150 MPs, and thus, according to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament, the legislative body should not have recognized the credentials of MPs until the Court issues a final ruling. But the Parliament pressed on, and in its first session yesterday it recognized the credentials of the MPs.
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“We are aware that such negative events have an impact on the reputation of the institution, which has been built over the years by the staff and not by Public Defenders elected for specific terms,” said the staff of the Public Defender’s Office in response to the different stance of their head.
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