Amendments to the Law Restrict Labor Rights of Public Servants

Shorena Kakabadze, Kutaisi

Argument about amendments to the Law of Georgia on Public Service might continue in the Constitutional Court. According to the February 5, 2014 amendments to the law, which was approved by the Parliament of Georgia together with the Code on Local Self-Governance, every employee of the local self-governmental bodies will work as interim employees. 

According to new regulations, interim employees of the local self-governmental bodies will keep their working places until new people are recruited through competition. New personnel will be selected according to the competition. According to the amendments to the law, new people will occupy working places within 120 days after the results of the local self-governmental elections are announced. 

Nongovernmental organizations protest amendments to the Law on Public Service. They, like opposition parties, believe that it was step backward taken by the government and has nothing to do with the reform. 

“The amendment allows the government to dismiss public servants without any obstacles after the local elections. So, it was mistake to adopt this norm. We believe it should be re-considered and finally removed from the law. We will try to resolve this issue lawfully,” chairwoman of the International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy Nino Lomjaria said.

Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association and Transparency International - Georgia also oppose the amendment. Their representatives state it is unfair to fire several thousand public servants from job according to the law requirement. 

Parliament of Georgia passed Code on Local Self-Governance as well as amendments to the Law on Public Service through noisy discussions and protest of NGO representatives, who left inter-fraction working group in protest, on February 5 through third hearing. TI-Georgia, GYLA and ISFED representatives refused to continue working in the group because of non-constructive law.

  

Initiators of the amendments think differently and believe it will do much good for the country. Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Davit Narmania, who chaired the group working on the Code on Self-Governance, clarified that arguments of the NGO representatives were groundless. “Amendments to the Law on Public Service as well as new Code on Local Self-Governance are part of local self-governance reform, which is implemented by our government. As for their argument, as if we will start mass personnel reduction in local self-governmental bodies, it is groundless. Open and transparent competitions will be held in local governments and people winning the competition will occupy vacant positions,” Davit Narmania said.

Representatives of human rights organizations do not exclude possibility to file constitutional lawsuit to the Constitutional Court. They said the new regulations in the law restrict labor rights of public servants, that is inadmissible.

Members of the parliamentary minority also share position of NGOs. They expressed their concern when separate articles of the code were discussed and left session hall in protest.