Georgia marks 101st anniversary of first constitution
The original constitution was approved by the Constituent Assembly of Georgia on February 21, 1921, just a few days before the Red Army invaded the country to turn it into a Soviet republic. The constitution’s historical, political and legal significance has been widely recognised by historians, legal scholars and the wider public, with events marking related anniversaries hosted in recent years. Photo: archive.gov.ge.
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The legacy of the constitution of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia, a landmark document approved 101 years ago, was celebrated in the country on Monday by officials and citizens with remarks on the significance of the date for the modern Georgian state.
Among comments marking the annual anniversary, parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili said “[the 1921 constitution] was one of the most progressive human rights document, that laid a solid historical foundation in terms of defining Georgia’s political system and foreign policy priorities.”
Today Georgia celebrates the adoption of the first Constitution on 21 February 1921. We bear special responsibility to build upon the legacy of this progressive document highlighting the protection of democracy, rights & liberties as ???????? advances on its European integration path. pic.twitter.com/YdzMIhM0P8
— Shalva Papuashvili (@shpapuashvili) February 21, 2022
Papunashvili highlighted the lasting significance of the historical document by saying “[t]he current version of the Constitution of Georgia is a continuation of the spirit of the first constitution and is the foundation of a free, democratic, European Georgia.”
The 1921 constitution, approved in the third year of the First Democratic Republic, came shortly before the Soviet invasion and annexation of Georgia later that year. However, the significance of the constitution was recognised in 1995, when the newly independent Georgian state modelled its new document on the historical paper.
The original constitution was approved by the Constituent Assembly of Georgia on February 21, 1921, just a few days before the Red Army invaded the country to turn it into a Soviet republic. The constitution’s historical, political and legal significance has been widely recognised by historians, legal scholars and the wider public, with events marking related anniversaries hosted in recent years.
The current constitution, an update on the 1995 version, was approved following a series of public and parliamentary discussions in 2017, to better reflect the country’s current challenges. Read some of the key amendments into the latest version here.
A century ago on February 21, 1921, the Constituent Assembly of Georgia adopted a landmark historical document that formed the basis of the country’s contemporary constitution.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili hosted a reception at the Atoneli presidential palace last night to celebrate the 24th anniversary of the signing of the State Constitution. Although Georgia adopted its first constitution three years after the country gained independence from Russia in 1918, four days later the country again fell to occupation by Soviet forces.
The new constitution of Georgia, which was adopted in 2017, has automatically come into play after the yesterday’s presidential inauguration.
President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili has signed the new edition of Constitution that Parliament adopted on September 26. Margvelashvili announced the news at a press briefing a short time ago.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday stressed the “most important” role of the country’s constitution in his message to the public marking the annual date celebrating its approval in 1995. The PM said “unwavering loyalty and protection of the fundamental set of laws is the most important condition for [ensuring] civil unity, peace, prosperity, stability and progress of the country”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Wednesday said this day was “a historic day” for Georgia, as it marked the adoption of the first constitution on 21 February 1921, and stressed the landmark document of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia was a demonstration that the then Georgian society “was equipped with appropriate values and a very high legal culture”.
The Delegation of the European Union to Georgia on Wednesday congratulated the country on the anniversary marking the adoption of the constitution of its First Democratic Republic in 1921.