The President of Georgia has signed a law abolishing the State Inspector’s Office.

“Today I signed the amendments to the law on the State Inspector’s Office, which provides for the abolition of the service and the establishment of new structures instead.

There have been and still are differing views on such structural changes, although this decision does not contain a categorical legal objection. The abolition of the service and the establishment of new structures do not provide a basis for motivated remarks of a legal nature by the President.

However I find it unacceptable to adopt such an important law in a fast-tracked process, without any consultations and appropriate discussion, the need to review the bill in an expedited manner was not justified with anything.

It is unacceptable that in a country that aims to consolidate democracy, a key issue such as the protection of personal data is not given adequate time or space for discussion.

It is a very bad precedent that the head of an independent service, a person elected for a term of 6 years, is dismissed without any prior warning or reasoned remarks about her professional activities, especially when strengthening the independence and inviolability of officials remain one of the biggest challenges for our country.

As a result of the adopted legislative changes an unfair situation arose, which I share and I express my negative attitude. I hope that a solution will be found to enable the State Inspector to continue her activities in one of the newly created services, with all the guarantees of independence”, - reads the statement of Salome Zourabichvili.

The Parliament adopted the controversial laws in an extraordinary session on December 30, triggering a public outcry and international criticism.