According to the Rules of Procedures of the Parliament of Georgia, a Member of Parliament has the right to address the Government of Georgia, another body accountable to the Parliament, a member of the Government, a government body of all territorial units, or a state institution with a question. A timely and complete answer to the question is mandatory.[1]

In 2022, on the basis of the amendments made to the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia, the Procedural Issues and Rules Committee of the Parliament of Georgia was instructed to study and submit to the Bureau of the Parliament information regarding the response to the questions of Members of Parliament. Unfortunately, it has been left beyond the Committee's responsibility to verify the content of the answer to the question, which, according to the Democracy Research Institute, is the main challenge.

Many years of observations have made it clear that parliamentary control over the security sector is the weakest. The Democracy Research Institute analyzed the content of the questions sent by Members of Parliament to the the security sector agencies (the Ministries of Defence and Internal Affairs of Georgia, the State Security Service and its subdivisions) and the answers received in September-October 2023. The organization used the public information posted on the website of the Parliament.

In two months (September-October), a total of 24 written questions were sent to the State Security Service, the Ministry of Defence and the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Of these, 10 questions were not answered, while in the case of 8 questions, the deadline for answering the question set by the Rules of Procedures expired.

23 questions were sent by the parliamentary opposition. In two months, only one member of the majority sent a question to the security sector agencies. The least number of written questions were sent to the State Security Service.

Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia

In two months, 15 written questions were sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Georgia. Of these, in one case, the deadline set by the Rules of Procedures for answering a question has not expired yet, 8 questions have been answered. The Ministry of Internal Affairs has not yet replied to 6 questions, although the deadline has already expired. The most of the written questions have been sent to the Ministry of Internal Affairs by Member of Parliament Ana Natsvlishvili.

The question of MP Tamar Kordzaia refers to the killing of a 14-year-old girl by a 28-year-old man on October 6 in the village of Lambalo, Sagarejo municipality. In particular:

• The MP requests information about the investigation launched in connection with the mentioned case, including the indication of the articles of the Criminal Code, on the basis of which the investigation is being conducted.

The written question was sent on October 10,[2] however, the Ministry of Internal Affairs had not responded to the MP even by the time of the publication of the report, despite the fact that the deadline set by the Rules of Procedures for answering the question has already expired.

According to media reports, it became known on October 10 that the person accused of the murder of the minor had been arrested (on the basis of Articles 11¹, 109, 143 and 236 of the Criminal Code of Georgia).[3] In the following days, the deceased person's uncle and mother were arrested (on the basis of Articles 11¹, 150-e¹ and 376 of the Criminal Code of Georgia).[4] Issues related to the ongoing investigation are known to the public due to the high public interest. Accordingly, it is not clear why the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not reply to the MP.

In connection with the tragedy that took place in Shovi in August, several members of the parliamentary opposition addressed the Ministry of Internal Affairs with a question. MP Tamar Kordzaia requested information, using the written question mechanism,[5] including:

• Written action plans for the search and rescue operation; information about the discovery of bodies in the Shovi disaster zone, the place, location and exact time of the discovery of the bodies; reports of investigative actions drawn up relating to the discovery of the bodies; reports on inspections conducted in the disaster zone; information about the scientific-technical means and methods of finding, fixing and collecting physical evidence used by expert-criminologists.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs informed the MP about the articles under which the investigation was launched into the Shovi tragedy, but refused to provide the rest of the information requested by the question "due to the interests of the investigation".[6]

The question of MP Tinatin Bokuchava[7] also concerned the Shovi tragedy.

• The author of the question asked for detailed information about all the steps and measures taken after receiving a notification of warning content, as well as the protocol, strategy and normative base, which ensure the management and prevention of expected risks, preparedness and response.

It is significant that earlier, MP Ana Natsvilishvili had also sent a similar question, however, unlike Tinatin Bokuchava, Ana Natsvilishvili also asked for information about the responsible person ("Who is responsible for receiving/processing [a warning notification] and developing a communication strategy for future steps?").[8]

Despite the fact that the Ministry of Internal Affairs answered the questions of both MPs in time, the answers are problematic, general and incomplete in terms of content.[9] For example, according to the answer given to Ana Natsvlishvili, "The notification was of general nature and it did not make it possible to predict the danger of the natural disaster or determine the exact location" and these notifications are related to standard meteorological events.[10] Despite the fact that the contents of the questions differ from each other (Ana Natsvlishvili also asked for information about the responsible persons), both MPs' questions were answered identically.

The answers create an impression that the only task of the Ministry is to avoid responsibility. In the reply sent to Tinatin Bokuchava, there is no mention of the protocol, strategy or normative base, which ensure the management and prevention of expected risks, preparedness and response.

The most written questions belong to MP Ana Natsvlishvili. Out of 9 questions sent by her, the deadline for answering one question has not expired, while 4 were left unanswered. The unanswered questions concern:

• The documents confirming that the Minister of Internal Affairs was on leave in the month of August.[11]
• Information about the objective circumstances that served as basis to accept international aid to extinguish the fires that broke out at different locations at different times and the objective circumstances that served as basis to consider that there was no need to receive international aid in connection with the events that took place on August 3, 2023 in the village of Shovi, Oni municipality.
• The issue of the fire-rescue aviation park in Georgia. [12]

It is noteworthy that the MP sent the last question again because she did not receive an answer. However, the agency did not provide the information requested.

Another unanswered question of the MP concerns:

• The 2017-2020 National Strategy for Disaster Risk Reduction and issues related to the flood prevention in general.[13]

Ana Natsvlishvili sent one more question about the same issue. In particular, the MP requested information about the following:[14]

• "The launch of an investigation regarding alleged official misconduct; the launch of an investigation under another article of the Criminal Code; in case of a positive answer, the appointment of examinations and the investigative activities carried out at the place of the cause of the flood."[15]

On the same day, the MP repeatedly applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and requested information about the date of the launch of the investigation related to the Shovi tragedy and the articles of the Criminal Code, under which the investigation was launched.

The Ministry answered two questions with one letter and provided information requested by the MP.[16]

Another question of Ana Natsvlishvili concerned the following:[17]

• Information on the number of employees who quit their jobs in the agency voluntarily, as well as information about the alleged reasons for the outflow of the

The answer provided by the Ministry indicates statistical information, while regarding the reasons, it is mentioned that this is a natural process.[18]

The question of MP Salome Samadashvili concerned:

• The number of vehicles with Russian Federation license plates that entered or left Georgia after February 2022 or are still in Georgia, by month.[19]

The question has not been answered (as of October 31), but the deadline established by the Rules of Procedures of the Parliament of Georgia has not expired either.

The question of Roman Gotsiridze, Member of Parliament, concerned:

• The number of persons employed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the basis of employment contracts and the number of staff members.[20]

The answer was published on the website of the Parliament, according to which the Ministry of Internal Affairs sent the requested information to the MP as an attachment, although the attachment has not been published.[21]

In total, only one question was sent by members of the parliamentary majority. Zaza Lominadze, a member of the Georgian Dream faction, addressed the Ministry of Internal Affairs with the following question:

• "As of the period of 2023, have you detected violations through the so-called raid (proactive inspection). In case of a positive answer, please provide us with the statistics and the relevant articles."[22]

The agency provided a complete written answer to the author of the question.[23]

Ministry of Defence of Georgia

In October, 7 written questions were sent to the Ministry of Defence. Out of these, 4 questions have been answered, in two cases, the deadline for answering a question expired, and in one case, the time set for the addressee has not expired yet. The most written questions were sent to the Ministry of Defence by MP Teona Akubardia. One of her questions concerned the following:

• “How many voluntary organizations has the Ministry of Defence cooperated with in the field of defence within the framework of the memorandum in recent years? Which organizations are implied by voluntary defence organizations under the Defence Code? Please give me a list of them and the specifics of each organization."[24]

The answer received from the Ministry of Defence is proper in content. It lists the organizations with which the Ministry actively cooperates, indicating the main direction of their activities.[25]

The question of Member of Parliament Levan Bezhashvili was left unanswered. The MP requested the following information:

• A list of expenses incurred in goods and services, indicating the companies, goods purchased and services provided from January 1, 2023 to the period of the preparation of responses to this letter.[26]

The question of Roman Gotsiridze, Member of Parliament, concerned:

• The number of persons employed by the Ministry of Defensce on the basis of employment contracts and the number of staff members.[27]

Despite the fact that the deadline set by the Rules of Procedures has expired, the Ministry of Defence has not provided information.

State Security Service

Observations over the years have made it clear that the weakest control is exercised over the State Security Service among the security sector agencies. In September-October, MPs addressed the State Security Service with only two written questions.

The question of opposition MP Teimuraz Janashia is as follows:

• "According to the information received within the framework of the investigation ongoing in the State Security Service, a certain group of persons operating in the territory of Georgia and outside of it is planning to organize destabilization and civil unrest in Georgia in October-December of this year, the ultimate goal of which is to change the government through violence. Under which articles is the case being investigated, how many people were interviewed within the ongoing investigation, at what stage is the investigation and what measures were taken by the State Security Service within the framework of the investigation?"[28]

The State Security Service provided information to the author of the question only about the articles of the Criminal Code, under which the investigation is ongoing. However, it did not elaborate on the measures taken or the stage of the investigation.[29] Given the high public interest in the issue, it is necessary for the Service to provide the Members of Parliament with sufficient information about the progress of the case in order to enable them to exercise parliamentary control over the agency.

The second question sent to the State Security Service belongs to Teona Akubardia. In particular, the question concerned:[30]

• The request expressed by Georgia at the IPRM meeting ("To enable our citizens to visit the graves beyond the occupation line, especially on Easter days") and the progress related to the fulfillment of this request.

According to the website, the question has been answered, however, the answer is not published. If the answer contains confidential information, the publication of which would be inappropriate, it is important for external control to make an appropriate reference to the above on the website.

Although there is a high public interest towards the case of the former Chief Prosecutor, the public learned only a few days ago under which article the investigation was launched in the State Security Service.[31] Officially, the agency did not even release a statement that the former Chief Prosecutor had been summoned to questioning. It is also not known what other investigative actions the State Security Service is carrying out.[32] It is noteworthy that not a single MP has sent a written question to the State Security Service regarding the Partskhaladze case.

The Democracy Research Institute calls on the Members of Parliament of Georgia to more actively use the written question mechanism granted by the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Georgia for the control of the security sector agencies.

[1] Rules of Procedures of the Parliament of Georgia, Article 148.1.

[2] parliament.ge, 10.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28891

[3] November 3, 2023

[4] formulanews.ge, 10.10.2023, available at: https://formulanews.ge/News/99069

[5] formulanews.ge, 13.10.2023, available at: https://formulanews.ge/News/99341

[6] parliament.ge, 28.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28783

[7] parliament.ge, 16.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28783

[8] parliament.ge, 02.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28800

[9] parliament.ge, 13.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28592

[10] parliament.ge, 11.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28909

[11] parliament.ge, 28.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28771

[12] parliament.ge, 13.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28591

[13] parliament.ge, 06.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28529

[14] parliament.ge, 06.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28536

[15] parliament.ge, 06.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28524

[16] parliament.ge, 28.09.2023 available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28775 

[17] parliament.ge, 13.09.2023 available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28585

[18] parliament.ge, 09.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28855

[19] parliament.ge, 18.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28920

[20] parliament.ge, 18.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28930

[21] parliament.ge, 01.11.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/29110

[22] parliament.ge, 06.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28551

[23] parliament.ge, 26.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28683

[24] parliament.ge, 03.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28822

[25] parliament.ge, 16.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28915

[26] parliament.ge, 02.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28805

[27] parliament.ge, 18.10.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28935

[28] parliament.ge, 25.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28796

[29] parliament.ge, 29.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28677

[30] parliament.ge, 14.09.2023, available at: https://info.parliament.ge/file/1/MpQuestionContent/28610

[31] publika.ge, Liluashvili: Otar Partskhaladze left Georgia the day after the questioning, 19.10.2023, available at: https://publika.ge/liluashvili-otar-farckhaladzem-saqartvelo-gamokitkhvidan-meore-dghes-datova/

[32] democracyresearch.org, DRI: The State Security Service should provide information to the public about the progress of the investigation into the Partskhaladze case, 19.10.2023, available at:https://www.democracyresearch.org/geo/1316/