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Address of Human Rights Center about Granting Right to Pardon Prisoners to the Patriarch of Georgia

December 7, 2015
 
Human Rights Center evaluates the idea of the Prime-Minister to grant the right to pardon prisoners to the Patriarch of Georgia as a threat to the constitutional order of the state.

Almost in every country pardon institute is a constitutional prerogative of the head of the state  that is regulated by the Constitutions and legal acts of the countries.

Since July 2015, with financial support of the Open Society Georgia Foundation, Human Rights Center has been implementing the project to study and evaluate Georgian and foreign models of pardon mechanisms. The organization has recently finished the survey in pardon mechanisms of the democratic states like the USA, Austria, Bulgaria, Ireland, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Croatia and Czech Republic. It should be underlined that religious organizations do not participate in the pardon process in any of the aforementioned countries.

The survey of the Georgian pardon mechanism demonstrated that the Georgian Patriarchate is actively involved in the work of pardon mechanism. Mitropolit of Akhaltsikhe and Tao-Klarjeti Eparchy of the Georgian Orthodox Church is member of the pardon commission, which works under auspices of the President of Georgia. The Mitropolit represents the Georgian Patriarchate in the commission. It is noteworthy that representatives of no other religious confessions are members of the commission that place them in unequal conditions. In addition to that, Commission to Study Issues of Pardoning Convicts is functioning in the Georgian Patriarchate, whose members are clergymen and it discusses the cases of convicts in parallel to the President’s pardon commission. However, the cases they discuss should be enclosed with the recommendation/solicitation of the applicant prisoner’s personal priest.

The head of the state is authorized to implement human act of pardoning in accordance to the competence assigned on him under the Constitution. Exclusive right of the President of Georgia to pardon convicts is result of the constitutional-legal status of the President’s Institute. Article 69 of the Constitution of Georgia clarifies that “The President of Georgia shall be the Head of the State. The President of Georgia shall ensure the activity of the state bodies in accordance with the Constitution.” Pardon privilege of the President of Georgia is an outcome of the legal nature of the Head of the State.

Right to pardon is constitutional discretion of the Head of the State (President, Monarch, etc) in democratic countries. At the same time, Georgia is a secular state, where religious and secular authorities are separated. Consequently, the state cannot assign its sovereign function to the religious authority. People are source of authority, who granted constitutional prerogative of pardoning to the President.

Granting the pardon right to a leader of any religious group is a sign of theocratic state that is inadmissible for the democratic government.

Human Rights Center addresses to the Parliament and Government of Georgia to adequately consider the significance of the constitutional order and respect the institute of the Head of the State, who received constitutional authority to pardon prisoners from the people – the source of authority.

Human Rights Center 

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