​The Charter of the State Constitutional Commission

 
Article 1. General Provisions
 

1. The Charter define the aim, composition, authority, structure and workflow mode of the State Constitutional Commission (hereinafter – the Commission).
2. The Commission acts based on the principles of collegiality, transparency and inclusiveness, involving a wide circle of  society in the process of elaboration and discussion of the draft law on the Revision of the Constitution of Georgia.

 
Article 2.  The Aim of the Commission
 
The aim of the Commission is to elaborate the draft law on revision of the Constitution of Georgia, the adoption of which shall provide for the full compliance of the Constitution with the fundamental principles of the Constitutional Law, and creation of the Constitutional system, in the interest of a long-term democratic development of the country.
 
Article 3. Composition of the Commission
 

1. The composition of the Commission is endorsed by the Order of the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia.
2. The Commission is composed of:

1. The Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia;
2. Members of the parliamentary majority; members of the parliamentary minority; members of the parliamentary faction, not part of either parliamentary majority or parliamentary minority; the independent Member of the Parliament;
3. One representative from the independently participating parties and the party being number one in a political bloc, which participated in the last parliamentary elections, could not overcome the electoral threshold but received at least 3% of the election votes;
4. The Head of the Administration of the President of Georgia and the Parliamentary Secretary of the President of Georgia;
5. The Minister of Justice of Georgia and the Parliamentary Secretary of the Government of Georgia;
6. The Chairperson of the Constitutional Court of Georgia;
7. The Chairperson of the Supreme Court of Georgia;
8. The Heads of the Supreme Representative and Executive bodies of the Autonomous Republics of Abkhazia and Ajara;
9. The Public Defender of Georgia;
10. The President of the National Bank of Georgia;
11. The General Auditor of the State Audit Service;
12. The Secretary of the National Security Council;
13. Experts and representatives of non-governmental organizations.

 

3. Taking the number of parliamentary mandates into consideration, the parliamentary majority, the parliamentary minority and the parliamentary faction, not part of either parliamentary majority or parliamentary minority, shall get the following quatas in the Commission:

1. The parliamentary majority – 23 members;
2. The parliamentary minority – 8 members;
3. Faction “Patriots of Georgia” – 2 members.

 

4. The subjects, envisaged by the subparagraphs “b” and “c” of Article 2 shall submit the candidacies for the membership of the Commission to the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia within 5 calendar days upon enforcement of the Charter;
5. The subjects, envisaged by the subparagraphs “b” and “c” of Article 2, are authorized to change the members of the Commission, submitted by them;they shall apply to the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia for this purpose in a written form.
6. Experts and representatives of the non-governmental organizations, envisaged by subparagraph “m” of Article 2, are determined by the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia.

 
Article 4. Authority of the Commission
 
The Commission is authorized:

1. To elaborate the draft law on the revision of the Constitution of Georgia;
2. To request information, materials and documents from state organizations and institutions of Georgia, and to ask for information, materials and documents from other organizations, necessary for the functioning of the Commission;
3. To invite specialists, including international consultants, for their expertise and for preparing specific parts of the revised draft law on the Constitution of Georgia;
4. To invite governmental officials, experts or representatives of non-governmental organizations to the meeting of the Commission or its working group;
5. To arrange conferences, seminars and other events on the issues under discussion.

 
Article 5. The Structure of the Commission
 

1. The officials of the Commission are the Chairman of the Commission and the Secretary of the Commission.
2. The Commission is composed of the working groups.

 
Article 6. The Chairman of the Commission
 

1. The Commission is chaired by the Chairman of the Commission.
2. The Chairman of the Commission:

1. Represents the Commission in its relations with other persons;
2. Convenes and chairs the meetings of the Commission and its working groups; if necessary, asks the Secretary of the Commission to convene and chair the meetings of the working groups;
3. Signs the minutes of the meetings of the Commission and other documents of the Commission;
4. Ensures the elaboration of the draft texts and the final text of the draft law on the revision of the Constitution of Georgia;
5. Assumes other duties envisaged by the Charter.

 
Article 7. The Secretary of the Commission
 

1. The Secretary of the Commission is appointed by the Order of the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia  from the members of the Commission.
2. The Secretary of the Commission:

1. Prepares the meetings of the Commission and its working groups, ensures the notes of the meetings;
2. Manages the workflow of the Commission;
3. If tasked by the Chairman of the Commission, convenes and chairs the meetings of the working groups of the Commission;
4. Fulfills other assignments of the Chairman of the Commission.

 
Article 8. The Working Group of the Commission
 

1. The working groups are established from among the members of the Commission.
2. The member of the Commission voluntarily becomes the member of one of the working groups of the Commission. Based on the request of the member of the Commission, the Chairman of the Commission is authorized to assign the member of the Commission to more than one working group.
3. The working groups of the Commission cover:

1. The issues of Fundamental Human Rights and Freedoms, the Judiciary, Preamble and the General and Transitional provisions of the Constitution of Georgia;
2. The issues on the Parliament of Georgia, Finances and Control and revision of the Constitution of Georgia;
3. The issues of the President of Georgia, The Government of Georgia and the defense;
4. The issues of administrative-territorial arrangement and local self-governance.

 
Article 9. The Workflow mode of the Commission
 

1. Main forms of activities of the Commission are the meeting of the Commission and the meeting of the working group.
2. The meeting of the Commission and the meeting of its working group are convened by the Chairman in case of necessity.
3. The Commission is authorized if more than half of all members of the Commission are present. The decisions on endorsement of the specific provisions of the draft law on revision of the Constitution of Georgia and the final text of the draft law are adopted by the majority of the full composition.
4. In order provide transparency of the Commission activities and to involve a wide circle of the society in the process of preparation and discussion of the draft law on revision of the Constitution, the Commission uses the official website of the Parliament of Georgia,  with information on the meetings of the Commission and its working groups,;agenda and minutes of these meetings, prepared drafts, analytical letters and proposals of specialists, and results of public discussions of the draft law.
5. The minutes of the meeting of the Commission are signed by the Chairman of the Commission and the Secretary of the Commission, whereas the records of the meeting of the working group are signed by the Chairman of the working group.

 
Article 10. The financial and logistical support of the work of the Commission
 

1. The necessary funds for the work of the Commission are allocated from the budget of the Parliament of Georgia.
2. The staff of the Parliament of Georgia provide relevant working conditions for the Commission.

 
Article 11. Transitional Provisions
 
The first meeting of the Commission is convened by the Chairman of the Commission no later than 15 days after enforcement of the Charter.