Presentation of the Two-Volume Work by Mindia Ugrekhelidze and Beka Kantaria

The Ministry of Justice of Georgia organized and hosted the presentation of the two-volume work by Caucasus International University (CIU) professors, expert of the Ministry of Justice of Georgia Mindia Ugrekhelidze and editor of the Scientific Journal of the Constitutional Court of Georgia Beka Kantaria - “19th Century Georgia on the Highway of European Legal Culture” held at the National Library of the Parliament of Georgia. The editor of both volumes is the President of the Georgian National Academy of Sciences, Academician Roin Metreveli. The two-volume work was prepared and published on the basis of the Scientific-Research Institute of Constitutional Democracy of the Faculty of Law of CIU.

The presentation was attended by representatives of the legislative and executive authorities of Georgia, public figures, constitutionalists, professors, teachers, and students. The Minister of Justice of Georgia, Paata Salia, Head of the Scientific Research Department of Caucasus International University, Sesili Gogiberidze, Academician Mindia Ugrekhelidze and Professor Beka Kantaria delivered speeches.

The two-volume work is an important scientific publication, which confirms that the conception, dissemination and development of constitutional ideas in Georgia began much earlier than in the 1920s of the 20th century, which is often indicated in modern Georgian jurisprudence. The publications collected in the two-volume work, which were published in Georgian periodicals of the 19th century, demonstrate that Georgian society shared European legal and constitutional culture with great interest, deeply studied knowledge about constitutional democracy, the rule of law and fundamental human rights.

The publication is also important in that it presents Georgia not as a periphery of European legal reality, but as a direct participant in the process of its creation. This is related to the spread and establishment of the main tendencies of European constitutionalism of the 19th century. The extremely interesting publications printed in the Georgian press of this time on fundamental issues of the constitution, state governance, individual branches of government, democracy, freedom, and law allow for the scientific conclusion that in this era the Georgian people had widely understood and assimilated the ideas of constitutionalism.

The two-volume work once again confirms that national legal and constitutional thinking was historically connected with Western traditions, and interest in these ideas existed in Georgia more than a century ago. Therefore, the publication is not only a source of historical significance, but also a scientific work on the roots of modern Georgian constitutionalism.

The work is a vivid example of how the great Georgian educators and their followers worked to lead the nation onto the broad highway of European legal culture. To a large extent, the Constitution of Georgia of February 21, 1921, including modern Georgian constitutionalism, is the product of this.