EDITORIAL

Abstract

The present XIV edition of the Journal is dedicated to constitutional and judicial reform in Georgia and abroad. This topic has been chosen by the Editorial Board, due to comprehensive revision of the Constitution of Georgia, as well as complete renewal of the composition of the Supreme Court of Georgia, which constituted one of the most significant reforms in Georgian judiciary.

However, while working on the 14th edition of the journal, COVID-19 pandemic encompassed the world, which, in its turn, served as a significant challenge for proper functioning of democratic society and human rights protection. Many states, including Georgia, adopted restrictive measures to deal with pandemic, which lead to declaration of a State of Emergency, enforcement of strict quarantine measures, and restriction of a set of fundamental rights and freedoms for a relatively long period.

Therefore, on the one hand, we decided to expand the topic of the current edition, and to offer interesting analytical materials on legal aspects of dealing with pandemic to our readers, and on the other hand, we had to respond to the extraordinary legal regime operating in our country for last several months which caused active discussions not only in professional circles but in the general public as well. We do believe that ongoing discussions as well as decisions/rulings/judgements on the pending cases before Courts, might be beneficial to improve existing legislation and eliminate substantive gaps in it, which, in turn, could enable our country to establish a balanced effective and human rights oriented mechanisms to fight against pandemics. Thus, the present review is divided in two parts: in the first part, we will review the legal aspects of the State of Emergency declared in Georgia due to COVID-19 pandemic, as well as their impact on human rights protection. In the second part, there is a possibility to read brief overviews of academic papers published in this edition.