Thanks to the financial support of USAID in the framework of the project Strengthening Electoral Processes, implemented by IFES, the Civic Education Lecturers Association (CELA) began series of discussions - "Dialogues on Democracy". It aims to raise students’ awareness and create a space for discussions. In scope of the project, the first discussion was held on December 2, at Georgian-American University. It was devoted to the issues of the division of power between the branches of government.
The discussion was led by Levan Bodzashvili, expert in International Relations and Law and Bakar Berikashvil, political scientist and GAU professor. The discussion was attended by GAU students, young constitutionalists, as well as representatives of the Civic Education Forum and CELA. One of the main topics of the discussion was the separation of powers between the branches of government in accordance with the current law.
One of the key objectives of the constitutional reform, that began in 2009, was to adopt the "European-style constitution" and achieve the balance between the branches of government. After constitutional amendments in 2010, Georgia took important steps forward to the parliamentary republic. However, despite the amendments, the constitutional balance between the branches of government still remains quite a topical subject.
Issues of the division of powers between the three branches of government and their political aspects were analyzed in the discussion. As stated by Levan Bodzashvili „Constitutional Commission will focus on relations among parliament, president and government in order to bring equilibrium between the executive and legislative branches. An important principle of the separation of powers is that of judicial independence, that is why special attention should be given to strengthening constitutional mechanisms that guarantee the independence of the judiciary.”
The discussion analyzed the constitutional experience of the successful democratic states, which based to their own constitution made it possible to implement effectively the principle of separation of powers and which still strictly adhere to the principle of parity among the three branches of government.
The video tape of the discussion will be uploaded to CELA website in the near future. In scope of the project numerous discussions are planned. You will be able to get further information on them through our website or Facebook page.
