Contrasting opinions of three Constitutional Court judges, Irine Imerlishvili, Giorgi Kverenchkiladze, and Teimuraz Tughushi, who did not support the court’s ruling, which held that Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili violated the Constitution when travelling abroad without governmental authorization, were published on the court website.

The opinion reads that dismissing the President leads to a violation of the constitutional interest of the president in the exercise of power to a greater extent than the Constitution of Georgia provides for the violation indicated by the authors of the submission.

The authors of the opinion consider that the Constitutional Court should not have confirmed the fact of a violation of the Constitution of Georgia by the President of Georgia for the purposes of Article 48 of the Constitution of Georgia.

The opinions of three judges are available in full on the website of the Constitutional Court of Georgia: https://www.constcourt.ge.

The Constitutional Court ruled on October 16 that President Salome Zourabichvili violated the Constitution. Six out of nine members of the plenum supported the decision. Three members of the plenum, Irina Imerlishvili, Giorgi Kverenchkhiladze, and Teimuraz Tughushi, did not back the judgment.

The Georgian Parliament will hold an impeachment vote this week.