Cases of Law-making in Georgia - the Contradiction of Rule of Law and Rule by Law

Abstract

Institutionalisation of democratic legislative activities and the law-making process in Georgia is facing a challenge with regards to democratic governance, democratisation of the law-making process, and implementation of principles of ‘Bottom-up’ democracy, as these processes are exhibiting signs of the so called ‘Facade Democracy’.

The Rule of Law is a set of rules that are common and acceptable to everyone. The Rule by Law is the condition, under which rulers create a constitution, laws, and regulations, largely aimed at keeping them in power.

This article proposes the hypothesis that in the law-making process run by the highest legislative body – the Parliament, principles of the Rule by Law prevail over those of the Rule of Law. One of the aims of the highest legislative body is to prioritise and protect the interests of the ruling elite through the so called ‘Facade Democracy’ law-making process. This hinders institutionalisation and democratisation of the current model of government.

The main aim of this article is to analyse the ways the highest legislative body – the Parliament, implements the Rule of Law and the principles of ‘Bottom-up’ Democracy in the law-making process. The subject of the study is to reveal the mechanisms civil society institutions use to influence and control the law-making process. In order to assess the efficiency of the State and to analyse the events that took place in Georgia in 2010-2014, it is important to study the ways the legislative body – the Georgian Parliament functions. This is because there have been clear indications of an imbalance in the Parliamentary parties and of political interests obviously affecting the law-making process. All social groups are interested in making the highest legislative body, the Parliament, more affective, active and transparent.