The substance and tone of some foreign officials’ statements, in recent days, regarding the ongoing proceedings before the Constitutional Court of Georgia, are concerning, writes Speaker of the Georgian Parliament.

“I would remind everyone that referring the question of any political party’s constitutionality to the Constitutional Court is a right guaranteed to members of the Parliament of Georgia by the Constitution. Threatening statements by foreign governments in response to the people’s representatives exercising this right demonstrate a failure to understand democratic norms and violate the principle of non-interference in the internal affairs of another country.

Such statements also constitute an attempt to exert pressure on and intimidate the Constitutional Court of Georgia. Calling the legitimacy of the proceedings into question before the Constitutional Court has considered the case on its merits is a gross interference with judicial independence and a violation of the rule of law.

Foreign officials who comment on judicial proceedings in Georgia without any real understanding of them should show basic restraint and respect for the rule of law.

I would remind everyone that the European Court of Human Rights has repeatedly confirmed that superficial and biased statements made abroad about Georgian justice were unfounded. These foreign officials still owe Georgia and the Georgian judiciary an apology for their baseless attacks in the cases of Saakashvili v. Georgia, Melia v. Georgia, Gvaramia v. Georgia, Rustavi 2 v. Georgia and many others.

Everyone should therefore exercise restraint, so that not to incur a further debt of apology while the previous one remains unpaid”, - writes Shalva Papuashvili.