"Although the Georgian Parliament had a strong stance on overcoming the veto, this step by the President of Georgia would have been important for the democratic development of the country, strengthening of independent human rights institutions and provision of more legal guarantees for elected officials”, reads a statement issued by the State Inspector's Office.

According to the statement, with the adoption of the law, an independent institution has been abolished in Georgia, which had been focused on the protection of human rights since its creation.

"Today, the President of Georgia signed the amendments to the Law on the State Inspector's Office, which abolished the State Inspector's Office.

It I clear that due to the fact that such an important "reform" was carried out in an expedited manner, without the involvement of the State Inspector's Office, specialists, international organizations or the civil sector, and that its expedited discussion could not be justified by the Parliament of Georgia; given the numerous decisions of the Constitutional Court of Georgia, which declare the abolition of elected positions unconstitutional; given the fact that none of the important questions could be answered during the discussion of the draft law in the Parliament of Georgia; given the fact that the laws drafted by the Parliament do not/cannot strengthen the two newly created services and do not guarantee the independence of their heads; given that the law was adopted on the grounds of incompatibility of investigative and personal data protection functions, although nobody has asked the Office whether these two functions were compatible or what were the challenges in the process of implementing these two functions together; given that no new mechanisms have been added to the new investigative service to effectively investigate crimes and none of the challenges indicated by the State Inspector's Office in its reports have been taken into account; given that the new law does not improve the situation of personal data protection in Georgia and the draft law on Personal Data Protection, drafted in accordance with European standards, has not been considered by the Parliament of Georgia for more than 2 years; given that the dismissal of the State Inspector’s Office and the post of State Inspector were followed by strict assessments at both the national and international levels; given the current statement of the President of Georgia stating that it is unacceptable to adopt such an important law in an expedited manner, without any consultations or proper discussion, and considering it a very bad precedent that the head of an independent service elected for 6 years was dismissed without reasoned remarks about her activity; given that the President of Georgia herself stated that the adopted legislative changes created an unfair situation - there was an expectation that the President of Georgia would veto the law.

Although the Georgian Parliament had a strong stance on overcoming the veto, this step by the President of Georgia would have been important for the democratic development of the country, strengthening of independent human rights institutions and provision of more legal guarantees for elected officials.

In addition, after submitting the motivated remarks, the Parliament would have the opportunity to reconsider its decision in order to pass a law aimed at real reform based on a broad discussion.

With the adoption of the law, an independent institution has been abolished in Georgia, which had been focused on the protection of human rights since its creation," reads the statement.

source: IPN