References: Constitution of Georgia , art. 42

Peer Review Comments: Also see the administrative code.

References: There is no obligation for the government to justify their policies. The most commonly used statement by the Georgian public officials is the following: a decision is made and cannot be contested.

Peer Review Comments: There is an obligation to provide explanatory notes to every law or amendment to already existing law by the executive branch (if it is the initiator of the law). The executive branch has to provide a rationale for its adoption. However, these explanatory notes do not always provide substantial enough justification for the policy in question.

Peer Review Comments: There might be no obligation to do so, yet that's not the question. Moreover, we are not talking about public officials in general but about the chief executive (i.e., president). Saakashvili actually likes to justify his decisions in public.

References: Constitution of Georgia Law of Georgia on Constituional Court Law of Georgia on common courts Administrative Procedures Code

Peer Review Comments: See also Law of Georgia on the Supreme Court.

References: See report of ABA-CEELI on Judiciary in Georgia See report of GYLA, on court case law in administraive matters;

Peer Review Comments: Please note that the execution of judgments takes place under the Ministry of Justice, which means that they do not take place within the judiciary. This obviously creates problems in this area.

ABA/CEELI report is called the Judicial Reform Index.

Peer Review Comments: Unfortunately, Saakashvili reversed some of the decisions taken by Shevardnadze to improve the impartiality of the judiciary.

References: Most recent violations of legal order have been taking place with the deprivation of property rights of the citizens of Georgia in Tbilisi, Adjara, and elsewhere. See reports on EurasiaNet.

Peer Review Comments: Governing by decree is done almost all the time in Georgia. This is how the business was conducted during the Soviet era as well.

I do not agree with the comment that executive decrees frequently contradict the laws of the country. They are crafted well enough not to contradict the laws. However, there are many gaps. For example, while the Law of Georgia on Conflict of Interest and Corruption does not have a separate definition of a "high public official," there is an executive decree that does differentiate between high and regular public officials when it comes to determining their maximum allowable per diem rates (and reimbursables). This created a serious gap in the legislation, since neither the decree, nor the law, provide for a definition of these officials, so it is left up to an individual public official to determine whether they are high officials.

References: Constitution of Georgia, art.75 Law on Impeachment

References: Constitution of Georgia, art.64 Law on Impeachment from 1997

Peer Review Comments: See also the criminal code.

References: Law on Conflict of Interests and Corruption, 1997, arts.14 and 26

References: Law on Conflict of Interests and Corruption, 1997, arts.14 and 26

References: Law on Conflict of Interests and Corruption, 1997 Criminal Code of Georgia, art.340

Peer Review Comments: However, the law does not regulate what public officials should do if they realizes that that they have received an inappropriate gift. Specifically, while the law provides that the official must return the gift, it does not provide for a procedure, which makes it difficult for these persons to follow the law.

References: No law requires that.

References: No legal regulations exist.

Peer Review Comments: GOG is working on draft amendments that includes post-employment restrictions.

References: No legal regulations exist.

References: This is not effective, as there is no regulation for follow-up checks and monitoring.

References: No requirment for audit exists. Newspaper Alia pubshed regular information, but audit is done by their experts and resources.

Peer Review Comments: Unfortunately, the question doesn't specify who should do the auditing. The Chamber of Control does some auditing. In addition, the media is quite active in monitoring government officials.

References: General Administrative Code of Georgia, Chapter 3, Freedom of Information

References: It takes form 10 days to a month to get the information requested. No reports on delays and any particular problems exist.

See reports of the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association, "Government under Sunshine": www.gyla.ge;

See annual reports of the PUblic defender of Georgia: www.ombudsman.ge

References: Only photocopying costs are charged, as required by law. No other information has been reported.

References: Never. As example of abuse, see adds on Georgian TV, from July 2007, advertising for the President's Cup in football. This is the project of the ruling party, funded from the city budget and the budget of the sports department.