“Consideration of such an important issue could take years, particularly when the banning of several political parties is being discussed,” constitutional law expert Kote Chokoraia said during an appearance on PalitraNews’ Resume programme, commenting on the court proceedings concerning the proposed ban on political parties.

According to Chokoraia, if a senior government official commits a criminal offence while holding office, individual accountability should follow rather than holding the political party responsible.

“I will not go into procedural details. My observation is simply that none of the motions submitted by the opposition parties during these proceedings has been granted, and the judges appear to be trying to consider certain issues as quickly as possible.

“The substance of the proceedings is extremely important. The court itself should be interested in addressing every question and concern that may arise in a case of this kind. When the case was transferred from a chamber to the Plenum, the court itself acknowledged that, given the legal significance of the matter, it required serious consideration. This should include the participation of experts, including international experts. There is another important aspect: this lawsuit cannot be examined solely from a legal perspective.

“There are established standards for banning political parties. There have been cases in which countries have banned political parties and such bans have subsequently been found to violate constitutional principles. There have also been cases in which the European Court of Human Rights considered the banning of political parties justified.

“In democratic states, banning political parties is generally an exceptional measure, and the existing precedents are few and far between. In non-democratic states, of course, there are many such examples.

“European constitutional standards identify several circumstances in which a political party may be banned, including when its activities are directed against the constitutional order, subject to specific criteria, or when the party advocates violence.

“Another very important consideration when it comes to banning a party is the situation in which an individual party member commits a criminal offence while holding public office. In such a case, that individual should be held personally accountable. Why should a political party be held responsible for the actions of a particular person?

“Under these circumstances, you would not find a political party in Georgia that should be allowed to remain, because under every government there have been numerous senior officials who have been convicted,” Chokoraia said.