Constitutional Court considering lawsuit on President’s alleged violation of Constitution

The Georgian Constitutional Court on Tuesday launched its substantive consideration of the lawsuit against the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili over her alleged violation of the Constitution through her departure on an official visit abroad without the Government’s authorisation.

Four MPs of the ruling Georgian Dream party - Irakli Kobakhidze, Anri Okhanashvili, Giorgi Kakhiani and Tengiz Sharmanashvili - are involved in the lawsuit and accuse Zourabichvili of violating the main law of the state.

Zourabichvili herself is not present in court sessions, and is represented by Tamar Chugoshvili and Maya Kopaleishvili.

Local media reports said the Court could announce the decision on Tuesday, with the ruling set to determine whether the Parliament will discuss the impeachment of the President.

Merab Turava, the Chair of the Constitutional Court, said he hoped not attending the session was “not an expression of disrespect” to the court on the part of Zourabichvili.

In a social media message Zourabichvili expressed her “full confidence” in her representatives in the hearings.

Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said Zourabichvili had “blatantly and deliberately violated” the Constitution and “fundamentally opposed” the existing system of governance, and further said “narrative” that the Constitution had been only “formally violated” was an “un-European attitude”.

In her turn, Kopaleishvili assessed the content of the impeachment process as “clearly political”. Kopaleishvili also called the presentation of the case by the opposing side "unfounded" and alleged the Georgian Dream party had initiated the process of impeachment "completely without grounds".

• Ruling party initiates impeachment against President after unauthorised foreign visit

In late August, the Georgian Government Administration highlighted the country’s Constitution delegated the state’s foreign policy conduct to the Government, in comments on Zourabichvili’s unauthorised visits. The Administration said the President was delegated with exercising representative powers in foreign relations “only with the consent of the Government”.

The Administration rejected requests by Zourabichvili’s office for approval of her official visits to Germany, Ukraine, Switzerland, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, the United Arab Emirates, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Israel, but the President departed anyway, as her Administration said she was starting a series of meetings with European leaders to garner support for Georgia to be granted EU membership candidate status.