Constitutional Court combines three suits against “Russian Law”, its chairman admits receiving EU funding in the past

The three lawsuits filed in the Constitutional Court of Georgia on the Law on “Transparency of Foreign Influence” will be combined into one proceeding, CCG Chairman Merab Turava said to the journalist on Monday, adding “I don’t think that I and my judges have any less European aspirations than you.” The President of Georgia, more than […]

The three lawsuits filed in the Constitutional Court of Georgia on the Law on “Transparency of Foreign Influence” will be combined into one proceeding, CCG Chairman Merab Turava said to the journalist on Monday, adding “I don’t think that I and my judges have any less European aspirations than you.”

The President of Georgia, more than 100 non-governmental organizations and over 30 opposition MPs in their lawsuits claim that the controversial law, dubbed as the “Russian law” by many Georgians, violates Article 78 of the Constitution, according to which “the constitutional bodies shall take all measures within the scope of their competencies to ensure the full integration of Georgia into the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.”

The decision on the lawsuits “will be made within a reasonable time frame” and will take at least a month, Turava said.

“Not only do we have to read the law, but we also have to carry out comparative legal research, and it will take at least a month. The plenum of the Constitutional Court determines the deadlines. These lawsuits are not considered in the panel format, they are considered in the plenary format. At this stage, judges are studying lawsuits,” he said.

In addition, he noted that European integration is the most important for him and his colleague judges.

“European integration is the most important thing for us. I don’t think that I and my judges have less European aspirations than you,” Turava addressed one of the journalists.

“I was the first among [Georgian] lawyers who went to Europe in 1989. I have received all kinds of grants, funding and support,” Turava said.