Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili presented amendments to the Rules of Procedure of Parliament and related legislative drafts for a first reading under an accelerated procedure.
According to Papuashvili, the amendments are based on practical experience gained since Parliament adopted new procedural rules last year, which introduced significant reforms aimed at improving parliamentary efficiency.
“The new regulations have already been tested during the autumn and spring sessions. This period allowed us to assess the effectiveness of various procedures and identify issues requiring further clarification and refinement,” Papuashvili said.
Among the key changes, the amendments clarify procedures related to parliamentary notifications and committee membership for non-factional MPs. The fixed plenary session break from 15:00 to 16:00 would be abolished, with the session chair authorized to determine breaks as necessary.
The draft also grants Parliament’s Bureau the authority to schedule a plenary sitting on a different day during a parliamentary week and allows bill initiators to withdraw draft legislation up until its adoption at the third reading, rather than only before the first reading.
The rules governing the accelerated consideration of draft laws are also clarified, allowing bills already under accelerated review to continue being considered under the same procedure during subsequent plenary weeks if all three readings are not completed within the same week.
The amendments further streamline voting procedures for legislative packages and introduce changes to interpellation rules. Tuesday would be added as an interpellation day alongside Wednesday and Thursday, deadlines for submitting written questions would be extended, and Parliament’s Bureau would determine the timing of interpellation debates in consultation with the author of the question and its addressee.
The draft also changes the procedure for selecting members of the Board of Trustees of the Public Broadcaster. The competition commission responsible for selecting candidates would be abolished, while the Parliamentary Committee on Economic Policy would be tasked with reviewing candidates, conducting public hearings, and issuing recommendations.
In addition, the amendments clarify the procedure for hearing the annual report of the President of Georgia, specifying that the procedure concludes once the President’s address is delivered and allowing Parliament to continue discussing other agenda items afterward.
A related amendment to the Law on Normative Acts would introduce a single explanatory note for legislative packages submitted as a unified initiative.
The legislative package also includes amendments to the Organic Law on the Public Defender of Georgia and the Law on the State Security Service.
Papuashvili noted that lawmakers had additionally proposed creating joint committee working groups and increasing the time allocated for interpellation questions and subsequent debates.
The Parliament unanimously approved the amendments to the Rules of Procedure in the first reading with 79 votes.
The information was released by the Parliament’s press service.
