President doesn’t veto a bill on abolishment of State Inspector’s Service

The Georgian president has signed a bill initiated by the ruling Georgian Dream party MPs which envisages the abolishment of the State Inspector’s Service as it is now and instead offers the creation of two agencies – one which will look into alleged offenses committed by law enforcement officers and another for the protection of personal data. 

The abolishment of the State Inspector’s Service which was created back in 2018 to investigate alleged crimes committed by law enforcers has caused critical comments from the international community and local NGOs. 

The NGOs have encouraged President Salome Zurabishvili to use her veto right. 

However, the ruling party said that they would override the veto if the president refused to sign the bill. 

The president said that the abolishment of the State Inspector’s Office and the creation of two agencies instead did not allow her to make legally motivated remarks. 

However, she noted that she disagreed with the abolishment of the agency without large-scale  discussions, in a hastily manner. 

State Inspector Londa Toloraia claims that the agency was abolished ‘due to its unbiased decisions’, including those made towards the cases involving imprisoned former president Mikheil Saakashvili.