Georgia signed the Aarhus Convention on June 25, 1998, and the Parliament of Georgia ratified the Convention on February 11, 2000. The Convention entered into force on October 30, 2001. According to Georgian law, after an international agreement to which Georgia is a party enters into force, it must be published in the “Parlamentis Uckebani” (the official publication of the Parliament of Georgia). The agreement must be published in order for the agreement to acquire the status of law in Georgia.
Unfortunately, while the publication requirement is obligatory, the law on international agreements does not establish a specific deadline for the official publication. Because of this defect, none of the MEAs that Georgia has ratified recently has been published officially (including the Aarhus Convention).
Mr. Merab Barbakadze, the executive director of the “Legal Society Association,” brought a legal action in court to compel publication of the Aarhus Convention. Five months after hearing arguments, the court rendered its judgment on November 12, 2003. In Action No. N3/574, the court ruled in favor of the plaintiff and ordered the machinery of the Parliament to officially publish the Aarhus Convention.
For many reasons, including Parliamentary elections and the “Rose Revolution” of Autumn 2003, the court’s judgment had yet to be fulfilled. With the first steps of constructing a new State underway, the new Parliament officially published the text of the Aarhus Convention in 2005.
For more information, contact Mr. Barbakadze at merab@mymail.ge