Venice Commission delegation visits Georgia

A delegation representing the Venice Commission has arrived in Tbilisi to learn about the state of Georgia’s State Constitutional Commission.

The European Commission for Democracy through Law - better known as the Venice Commission - is the Council of Europe's advisory body on constitutional matters.

The aim of the Venice Commission’s visit is to get introduced to the work of Georgia’s State Constitutional Commission and share advice and expertise.

Head of Georgia’s State Constitutional Commission David Usupashvili said the Commission wanted a better Constitution so people could better understand and share it, after meeting the Venice Commission delegation today.

Usupashvili, who is also Georgia’s Parliament Speaker, met the guests at the House of Justice and introduced them to the work of the Constitutional Commission.

Today, Usupashvili told the guests the State Constitutional Commission had started working in Georgia. He said five working groups had been created and the groups had already held several meetings.

"At this point we plan to listen to ideas of Commission members and anyone else interested. For this, experts are present in the form of heads of the Venice Commission and they will work together with us,” Usupashvili said.

He said the State Commission had not made any decisions yet, as recommendations and problems were only being discussed at the current time.

"Venice Commission experts learn about the problems we have today and we will plan a specific action plan to remedy the issues,” Usupashvili said.

"Conferences will be held on several issues, experts will discuss others and in some instances Commission members will travel elsewhere [to learn more about other issues], so that from September we can take real action,” he said.

Usupashvili added that the State Constitution Commission would continue working until this December.

The working groups will cease activities in the upcoming 3-4 weeks, in the pre-election period, and will renew work in the second half of June.

The Venice Commission delegation is being led by the Commission Secretary Thomas Markert. As well as Georgia’s Usupashili, foreign experts will meet with the five working groups of the Constitutional Commission.

This is the first time the Venice Commission has visited Georgia since the creation of the Georgian Constitutional Commission.

The Venice Commission delegation will leave Georgia tomorrow.