Watchdog: Government Action Plan Insufficient to Strengthen Parliamentary Oversight of Security Sector

TI-Georgia says that the Georgian government’s action plan to meet the nine conditions for the opening of EU accession talks falls short of the requirement to strengthen Parliamentary control over the security sector.

The document prepared by TI-Georgia underlines the importance of this condition and states that the only measure included in the plan, namely the completion of the composition of the Parliamentary Group of Trust, “is not sufficient to meet the European Commission’s requirement.”

The watchdog stresses that the Parliamentary Group of Trust “lacks the necessary mandate and authority to ensure effective oversight of the security sector” and that the opposition’s role in the oversight process is a “mere formality.”

TI-Georgia states that in order to meet the EC’s requirements and to enable effective parliamentary oversight of the security sector, the following steps are necessary:

• To ensure comprehensive oversight of the State Security Service, the Parliament should establish a specialized body (a separate committee, a sub-committee, or a Trust Group with an expanded mandate). The composition of the specialized body/committee should be determined proportionally to the representation of the factions and the number of MPs without factions;
• The chairperson of such a specialized body should represent the opposition and members of the specialized body shall have the highest level of access to state secrets;
• The oversight mandate of the specialized body should encompass all facets of operations within the Security Service;
• The standing expert oversight council should be established within the specialized parliamentary body that will oversee the State Security Service and be accountable to the Parliament.

The watchdog notes that on December 13, 2023, it submitted a legislative proposal on strengthening parliamentary oversight of the security sector to the Parliament of Georgia. However, the Defense and Security Committee of the Parliament of Georgia declined the proposal.

Also Read:

• 12/02/2024 – DRI: Government’s Security Oversight Action Plan Falls Short of EU Requirements
• 17/01/2024  – CEC 2024 Action Plan Criticized for Ignoring Emigrant Vote
• 09/01/2024 – CSOs Critical about the Content of Government’s Action Plan on EU Conditions
• 05/01/2024 – Government’s EU Action Plan: the Intention that Counts?

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