Breaking: Constitutional Court Rejects Appeals by President and Opposition MPs

Constitutional Court of Georgia issued its decision on December 3 rejecting appeals by President Zurabishvili and more than 30 former opposition MPs challenging the constitutionality of the October 26 parliamentary elections.

President Salome Zurabishvili had appealed to the Constitutional Court on November 19, alleging violations of the constitutional principles of secrecy of the vote and universal suffrage in the 26 October parliamentary elections. The President asked that the final results be declared unconstitutional.

The opposition members of the former parliament also filed an earlier challenge regarding the elections. The Constitutional Court said it would merge the two cases into one. It had 30 days to decide.

The judges of the plenary: Merab Turava, Eva Gotsiridze, Giorgi Tevdorashvili, Irine Imerlishvili, Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze, Xvicha Kikilashvili, Manana Kobakhidze, Vasil Roinishvili and Teimuraz Tughushi.

The decision, recently published on the Court’s website, is final and may not be appealed or reviewed.

Two dissenting opinions have been issued by judges Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze and Teimuraz Tughushi.

The Constitutional Court did not uphold the claim to open additional polling stations abroad, stating that such a decision “does not in itself constitute a violation of the right to vote”. The Court noted that a violation could only occur if it was established that the state had the ability, with reasonable means, to open additional polling stations abroad to ensure the proper organization of the election, but failed to do so. This situation should have been duly justified in the constitutional complaint, which it was not, the Court ruled.

The Constitutional Court considered the issue of ballot secrecy during elections. The complaint pointed out that during voting, as the ballot paper moved in the machine, it was possible for a person standing near the ballot box to see the voter’s choice. It was suggested that the choice – whether of the ruling party or the opposition – could be seen from the other side of the ballot paper. However, the court ruled that the issue did not concern the constitutionality of the contested norms, but rather fell within the purview of the electoral administration. According to the Court’s decision, the problem identified stemmed from the administration’s conduct (such as the selection of ballot papers or markers) and not from the content of the contested norms themselves. Thus, the Court found no constitutional grounds for challenging the election procedures with regard to the secrecy of the ballot

The Court held that the complaint challenging the constitutionality of the norms relating to the time limits for contesting elections was unfounded. It said that the issues raised by the complainants, such as delays in hearings and access to evidence, related to the fairness of the judicial process rather than to the challenged norms themselves. As there was no evidence linking the norms to the alleged problems, the Court concluded that the complaint lacked constitutional grounds and should not be considered further.

President Salome Zurabishvili assessed the decision of the Constitutional Court during a briefing and said that today the Court has given a verdict for itself, for the country and for all institutions in Georgia. She noted that the Constitutional Court had a chance to bring Georgia back to the constitutional framework, back to the pre-election period, after which a series of “illegitimate incidents” took place that brought the country to the point where there were no legitimate institutions. She took responsibility for filing the complaint to the Constitutional Court, although she knew the state of the entire judicial system in Georgia. She said that she still had hope in people and hoped that at least three judges would have ruled in favor of her complaint. President Zurabishvili emphasized that today the Constitutional Court has put a knife through the Constitution and torn it in two, leaving her as the only independent, constitutional institution in Georgia, and that it is her responsibility to bring new elections in Georgia.

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