The Parliamentary Open Government Council, at the sitting presided by the Speaker, Shalva Papuashvili, discussed the rationalization of the legal initiative, namely, one of the key mechanisms of the commitment envisaged under the Open Parliament 5th Action Plan – improvement of the civic engagement mechanism in the lawmaking process.

The Speaker, being the Chair of the Council, stated at the sitting that the initiative implies one of the opportunities for civic engagement in the lawmaking process, and the current statistical data indicates the necessity of the rational modification of this mechanism.

“Scrutinizing the examples and experience of various countries, we acknowledged that the current system in our country ensures civic engagement in the lawmaking process to all extent. However, the existing statistical data reveals that since 2019, the Parliament managed to convert solely 5-6 legal initiatives into law out of 367 initiatives submitted to the Parliament. Hence, we need a critical and open attitude to, on the one hand, ensure all modern means for the inclusive democratic processes in the Parliament and prevent the losses, and on the other hand, ensure rational instruments”, - he stated.

Sundry solutions have been proposed at the sitting.

As the Speaker underlined, the Council intends to further work on the fulfillment of the assumed commitments.