Ombudswoman: OSCE/ODIHR call for suspension of law abolishing inspector service
The Georgian parliament adopted the law on the State Inspector’s Service on July 21, 2018, and the Service began operations on November 1, 2019. Photo: The State Inspector's Service of Georgia/Twitter.
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The Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) calls on the Georgian government to suspend the law abolishing the State Inspector Service, the agency investigating violations by authorities and law enforcement, Georgian Public Defender Nino Lomjaria announced earlier today.
Lomjaria said the office called on the Georgian government to suspend the process of replacing the service with two new bodies, initiated late last year, additionally calling for the “elimination of the shortcomings in the legislative process.”
The Ombudswoman said the OSCE/ODIHR response additionally recommended expanding the mandate of the head of the inspector service and its deputies, allowing them to complete their term of office in case the law is not suspended.
Lomjaria said the ODIHR had called the decision to abolish the service “hasty” and a “dangerous precedent,” saying it posed a threat to the rule of law and the effective functioning of independent institutions. Photo: Public Defender of Georgia.
The Georgian Public Defender's Office applied to the international organisation with the request to evaluate the law on February 2. The OSCE/ODIHR presented its legal evaluation on February 18, with the document then sent to Georgia’s constitutional court, where State Inspector Londa Toloraia appealed the law abolishing her agency on January 25.
Anri Okhanashvili, the Head of Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, asked the Ombudswoman to make public the questions she addressed the OSCE/ODIHR with, stressing the importance of clarifying the information based on which the international organisation made its conclusions.
The OSCE/ODIHR report does not address the main issue of the compatibility of the oversight function of the investigation and the processing of personal data by a single public service, therefore a reasonable suspicion [arises] that the OSCE/ODIHR was not provided with any information on such a matter,” Okhanashvili said.
The Parliament of Georgia has already appointed heads of the Special Investigation Service and Personal Data Protection Service, the two newly created agencies replacing the outgoing agency. The legislative body approved the bill replacing the inspector service on December 30, with the legislative changes coming into effect in March.
The ruling party maintains the replacement of the State Inspector Service with the two new agencies will strengthen the body and add functions to it, adding the authority of the outgoing service “has been broadly expanded” with the move.
The Parliament of Georgia appointed Karlo Katsitadze and Lela Janashvili to lead the Special Investigation Service and Personal Data Protection Services respectively on Tuesday, with the two newly created agencies replacing the outgoing State Inspector Service.
Georgian State Inspector Londa Toloraia has appealed the law abolishing the State Inspector’s Service and replacing it with two new agencies in Georgia’s Constitutional Court. Toloraia said her appeal requested an “immediate suspension” of the law before the court delivers its final decision on the case.
Ruling Georgian Dream party Head Irakli Kobakhidze has stated that the US Embassy’s statement, which criticises GD for the abolition of the State Inspector’s Service, ‘shakes the confidence of the Georgian public in western partners.'
The United States Embassy to Georgia has denounced hasty legislative amendments proposed by the ruling Georgian Dream party, stating that the replacement of the State Inspector’s Service with two new agencies ‘undermined government accountability.’
Georgia’s Special Investigation Service, an agency probing abuse of power at institutions, on Wednesday announced the creation of its Section for Protection of the Rights of Victims.