The Procedural Issues Committee considered, under an expedited procedure and at its II reading, the draft Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia, together with the related draft laws.

The issue was presented to committee members by the Speaker of Parliament, Shalva Papuashvili.

According to him, Article 48 of the Rules of Procedure has been supplemented with a new paragraph 4, which provides that:

“Two or more committees may establish a joint working group in accordance with this article. In such a case, the committees shall decide separately on the matters provided for by this article, and each such matter shall be deemed decided only if all of the committees reach the same decision”.

As Shalva Papuashvili noted, the next amendment concerns the scheduling of a plenary session on a different day. The relevant provision has been formulated as follows:

“Where necessary, Parliament, by a majority vote of the Members of Parliament present at the plenary session, but by not less than one-fifth of the full composition of Parliament, or the Bureau of Parliament, may amend the schedule of Parliament’s plenary sessions”.

He further stated that, as a result of the amendments, the title of Article 108 has been revised and now reads: “Specific Features of the Consideration and Adoption of a Legislative Package”.

The procedure provided for under this article will also apply to those draft laws included in a legislative package that Parliament considers under a simplified procedure.

According to the amendment to Article 113, if the Bureau of Parliament has adopted a decision on the expedited consideration of a draft law, but the draft law is not considered within the time frame established by the Bureau, the Bureau shall set a new deadline for its consideration.

The Speaker of Parliament also stated that, during an interpellation procedure, the author of a question will be granted five minutes, instead of three, to ask supplementary questions, and two minutes, instead of one, for clarification. In addition, the time allocated for debate following the completion of the interpellation procedure has been increased from five to ten minutes.

According to him, amendments are also being introduced to Article 200 of the Rules of Procedure, which regulates the election of a member of the Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster.

Specifically, a candidate nominated by the opposition will require only 50 votes to be elected on the first ballot, while candidates nominated by other authorised entities will require 76 votes for election.

Shalva Papuashvili also briefed committee members on the editorial amendments incorporated into the draft.